SINGAPORE — Team Singapore’s 308-strong contingent have kicked off their Myanmar SEA Games campaign with a bronze medal from the men’s sepak takraw team.

The six-man team of Magrib Ibrahim, A’fif Saiee, Nurirwan Mazlan, Hassan Aziz, Haffiz Ramli and Farhan Aman claimed a bronze in the men’s chinlone non-repetition event at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium in Naypyidaw yesterday.

A traditional sport played in Myanmar, chinlone — which means rounded basket in Burmese — features a team of six players passing a rattan ball back and forth using their feet, knees and heads while moving around a circle.

Up against Myanmar, Cambodia and Malaysia in the preliminary round, the Singaporeans scored 159 points to finish joint-third with the Malaysians (259). Myanmar (349) and Cambodia (293) finished first and second respectively, and both teams will contest the final today.

“All of the sepak takraw players are first-timers at the SEA Games except for Hassan, and chinlone is also a new event for them. I am very proud of them for winning Singapore’s first medal,” said Singapore coach Salleh Nanang yesterday.

“We have three more sepak takraw events in the men’s double, men’s team double and hoop, and we hope to get some more medals there.”

Singapore’s bid for a 25th SEA Games gold medal in men’s waterpolo also got off to a winning start with a 18-7 victory over Malaysia at the Zayar Thiri swimming complex yesterday evening.

SEA Games debutant Yip Yang lead the scoreboard with four goals, with Sean Ang also firing in three points as the Singaporeans stamped their dominance over their South-east Asian rivals in the pool.

They will face Thailand on Sunday, before taking on Indonesia and hosts Myanmar on Monday and Tuesday respectively.