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37th National Open Softball Championship 2011, Kuantan (Finals)

17TH July, 2011

PRESS RELEASE (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)

37th National Open Softball Championship 2011, Kuantan (Day 3)

Men Champion Perak Bigfoot

Keeping a cool head but with a more alert approach in the final encounter, Perak “A” represented by Big Foot club from Sitiawan, overwhelmed Polytechnic Sports Council (MSP) “B” 9-0 to win the men’s category of the 37th edition of the National Open Softball Championship in Kuantan today.

Having come from the same group where Big Foot had lost 6-3 to the Polytechnic team, Perak “A” coach Liong Lii Shin explained that their first round loss to MSP “B” was due to overconfidence and also for not being ready for the challenge.

Big Foot Softball Club in which most players came from Sitiawan and Teluk Intan, had double reason to be proud for their triumph today as it was sweet revenge and also made amends for last year’s loss in the final where they went down to Singapore.

Mohd Izzat of Perak Bigfoot in action

“This time we were more focussed in the finals. We wanted to make sure we took the title and that it did not slip away like the last time. I am very happy we did just that,” said the visibly happy and relieved coach.

The win yesterday was also Big Foot’s first time in two years after having ended bridesmaid last year in the national Open and Penang Open and in 2009 runners in the Perak Open and Penang Open.

Polytechnic team coach coach Shukri Abdul Rashid was naturally upset that having reached their first final after five attempts, they let the opportunity to wrest the title slip away.

“Somehow the players were nervous and never got into game. It is disappointing, but a lesson learnt for the future to be more composed when it matters most,” said Shukri.

In the semifinals Big Foot beat Brunei 7-4 to book their place in the final while MSP ‘B” beat host Pahang “A” in a tie breaker 6-5 after being deadlock in regulation play.

Brunei won the third place in the playoff beating Pahang 11-1.

In the women’s competition the final that was a repeat of last year’s event when Penang beat Terengganu, the East Coast team turned the tables this time around winning 5-4.

Terengganu fresh from the Sukma triumph were further strengthened for this tournament with a few senior players.

Earlier in the competition, table toppers Terengganu edged Pahang 7-6 for a place in the final.

Penang thrashed MSSM 19-1 in the match for runners-up in their respective Groups to play Pahang for the other berth in the final.

Penang beat Pahang 13-3 to book their place in the Grand Final.

Ends.

Issued on behalf of Softball Association of Malaysia
Contact: Tony Mariadass (012-3211558)

37th National Open Softball Championship 2011, Kuantan (Day 3)

16TH July, 2011

PRESS RELEASE (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)


All round team effort especially fine batting earned Polytechnic Sports Council (MSP) “B” a place in the semifinals in the men’s category of the 37th National Open Softball Championship in Kuantan today.

Polythecnic batsman in green hits for a run against Penang Aces.jpg

MSP “B” which is mainly made up of Politeknik Mas - Kedah, Politeknik JB - Johor and Politeknik PD - Negeri Sembilan, proved too strong for their challengers Penang Aces to emerge clear winners with a final score of 8-3 in the first quarter final held on a hot but breezy afternoon at the MPK 2 and MPK 4 fields.

The team whose most recent achievement is a fourth placing in an invitational meet held in Jakarta earlier this year, gave coach Shukri Abdul Rashid much reason to be proud of claiming their semifinals berth in their fifth appearance in the annual competition to date. The last time they qualified for the semifinals was in 2009 and finished third.

“I have been their coach for just one year now and I am proud of their performance today,” said Shukri who has been involved in the game since 1994.

“I now feel confident that they will go on to make the finals and from there on anything is possible,” he added hinting at the possibility of even standing a good chance to win the finals tomorrow.

MSP ‘B’ will play host Pahang A in the first semifinals, while in the other semifinals, Perak A will play Brunei.

In the women’s competition comprising two groups, Group champions Pahang and Terengganu play in the first Page System, where the winner will qualify for the final.

The two runners-up of the two Groups, Penang and MSSM will play in the second Page-System where the loser will take fourth overall spot. The winner will play the loser of the first Page-System in the Grand Final.

OTHER MEN’s Q-FINAL RESULTS
Pahang “A” 10 Melaka 7
Perak “A” 8 Penang “B” 0
Brunei 10 MSSM 0

Ends.
Issued on behalf of Softball Association of Malaysia
Contact: Tony Mariadass (012-3211558)

National Softball Championship

15TH July, 2011

PRESS RELEASE (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)

Polytechnic Sports Council (MSP) “B” and Penang lived up to their favourites tag when they were among the six teams who qualified for the men’s category quarterfinals in the 37th National Open Softball Championship at the MPK 2 and MPK 4 fields in Kuantan today.

MSP B topped Group A piping another Perak A to the quarterfinals berth, while Penang had both teams qualifying – Penang A topping Group E and Penang B heading Group D after a one round league.

The other five quarterfinalists who topped their respective Groups were Brunei (Group B), host Pahang A (Group C) and Melaka (Group E)

The remaining two berths for the quarterfinals will be determined from the second placed team in each of the six Groups where they will be divided into two Groups and play another one round league before the champions of the two groups will make up the last two quarterfinalists.

A total of 28 men’s teams are competing in the championship while there are nine women’s team.

The women’s team qualifying rounds will continue tomorrow (Saturday) before the quarterfinalists are determined.

The championship here will serve as the second phase of selection for the Jakarta Sea Games in November in Indonesia.

The Softball Association of Malaysia (SAM) are also be using the national championship to gauge the standard of the women players before making a decision as to whether to send a team to the Asian Women’s championship in Chinese Taipei next month

“We have already selected a group of players for the Sea Games after the Sukma (Malaysia Games) recently, and the national championship will be the second phase of selection to select more players to join the squad,” said Low Beng Choo, the president of SAM.

“We will have a third phase after the fasting month where all the players selected will undergo centralised training. We will also be inviting our affiliates to send any other players they think warrant a chance to be considered for the national team.

“We are very open about our selection of the national teams and give everyone who thinks they deserve a chance to be considered to come for the trials. After the third phase, we will finalise the team for the Sea Games.”

As for the Women’s Asian championship, Low said that the overall standard of the women players in the national championship will be scrutinised before making a final decision whether to send a team for the championship.

“The Asian women’s championship is of a very high standard, where Japan is the Olympic gold medallist. We do not want to send a team just for the sake of participation and need to determine if our women players’ standard has improved and will be able put up a respectable performance before deciding to send them,” added Low who is also one of the five vice-presidents of the Olympic Council of Malaysia.

Issued on behalf of Softball Association of Malaysia

Contact: Tony Mariadass (012-3211558)

37th National Softball Championship

12TH July, 2011

PRESS RELEASE (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)

The keen battle for top honours will not be the only attraction at the the 37th National Open Softball Championship starting on Thursday till Sunday at the Padang MPK2 and MPK4, Kuantan, Pahang.

The championship will also serve as the second phase of selection for the Jakarta Sea Games in November in Indonesia. The Softball Association of Malaysia (SAM) will also be using the national championship to gauge the standard of the women players before making a decision as to whether to send a team to the Asian Women’s championship in Chinese Taipei next month.

“We have already selected a group of players for the Sea Games after the Sukma (Malaysia Games) recently, and the national championship will be the second phase of selection to select more players to join the squad,” said Low Beng Choo, the president of SAM.

“We will have a third phase after the fasting month where all the players selected will undergo centralised training. We will also be inviting our affiliates to send any other players they think warrant a chance to be considered for the national team.

“We are very open about our selection of the national teams and give everyone who thinks they deserve a chance to be considered to come for the trials. After the third phase, we will finalise the team for the Sea Games.”

As for the Women’s Asian championship, Low said that the overall standard of the women players in the national championship will be scrutinised before making a final decision whether to send a team for the championship.

“The Asian women’s championship is of a very high standard, where Japan is the Olympic gold medallist. We do not want to send a team just for the sake of participation and need to determine if our women players’ standard has improved and will be able put up a respectable performance before deciding to send them,” added Low who is also one of five the vice-presidents of the Olympic Council of Malaysia.

A record of 28 men’s teams and 10 women’s team will be competing in this year’s national championship.

Last year’s defending champion Singapore in the men’s category will not be competing, but with the increase in number of teams, is still expected to see a keen battle for honours.

The favourites for this year will be Perak A, Kuala Lumpur A, Penang A, Perlis A, Polytechnic Sports Council (MSP) A and Terengganu.

The 28 men’s teams are divided into six groups namely Group A (Perak A, MSP B, Terengganu A, Penang C), Group B (Kuala Lumpur A, Johor C, Brunei, Perlis B), Group C (Perak B, Johor B, Pahang A, Selangor B, MSSM), Group D (MSP A, Negri Sembilan, Johor A, Penang B, Selangor A) and Group E (Penang A, Terengganu B, MASUM, Kuala Lumpur B, Sarawak).

The defending champion for the women’s category is Penang and they are drawn in Group G together with Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, host Pahang and Polytechnic Sports Council (MSP), while in Group H are Terengganu, Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM), Sarawak and Malaysian Universities Sports Council (MASUM).

“It is no surprise that we have a record number of teams because the sport is definitely on the rise among the young especially in schools, colleges and universities,” said Low.

“It augurs well for the development of the game and we hope to see a new pool of rise for our future national teams.”

Low said that this year’s tournament is expected to be keenly contested and the standard is expected to be high.

Issued on behalf of Softball Association of Malaysia

Contact: Tony Mariadass (012-3211558)

SUKMA MALAYSIA 2011

JADUAL & KEPUTUSAN PERTANDINGAN - SOFBOL

Full Official Results can be viewed HERE

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