More than 30 players and officials from East Borneo Taekwondo Association were in Singapore on 7 January 2008 for friendly matches with members of the national training squad. It was held at the National Training Centre.
Although players from East Borneo were not known for their taekwondo skills, they were far from being pushovers. They turned out to be very strong fighters. Some of them managed to outshine our players.
What were their secrets?
Alex Hadiyanto, former national coach of Indonesia, revealed: “They are preparing for the national championships in Jakarta, Indonesia in a couple of months’ time.
“The team has been training three times a day, six days a week for a few months now. And today’s friendly matches give them a chance to assess their strengths and weaknesses. I am glad that the Singapore players did a good job of evaluating them.”
Based on their performances, we would not be surprised if a few of them emerged as national champions and went on to represent their country.
1st Vice-President Steven Soh, who witnessed the exchanges with other STF officials including 2nd Vice-President RA Jeyaraman and Parents’ Committee Chairman Darren Tang, exchanged gifts with Mr Andi Harun, President, Borneo Taekwondo Association at the end of the session. He also presented souvenirs to other visiting officials and players.
