Why isn't Tan on the national team

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, July 24, 2010

ESMOND TAN has revealed to The Brunei Times that the chances of him to make it into Brunei's new national squad were already slim from
the start, due to his personal commitments.

National basketball coach Kevin Reece has assembled the team to represent Brunei at the 2010 Borneo Cup, which the Sultanate will host from Aug 13-15, but the new national side will not feature Tan, arguably the best cager in the country, in the line-up.

Reece had called out to all potential players in the country to step forward and attend tryouts to be part of the national team last month and Tan had failed to attend any sessions.

"I couldn't make myself available for training because of work commitments. I just came back from a holiday and there was no way I
could have made it to the selection," said Tan, when met at the Brunei
International Airport in Berakas yesterday.

"I haven't been playing as much as well. All I could do was shoot a couple of hoops during my free time," added the former Barracudas player.

Tan had been on a sabbathical for the past month with a getaway to Australia and only returned yesterday.

The 26-year-old, who is working for Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), will not be available from July 29 - August 13 since he will be offshore.

"I just wish the team all the best in the upcoming tournament to do the
country proud." The new team comprise of a slightly different line-up
compared to Reece's previous selection, back in March, as players were
selected based on their performances during the 9th National Sports
Festival (PSK) which concluded late last month.

Ben Sim, Lim Liang Wei and Choo Yung Jian are the players that represented the Belait district while Pg Md Faizuladzmi Pg Tajuddin is the sole cager from the Tutong district. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times