Courtesy: The Borneo Post


‘Home Sweet Home’

by Ting Tieng Hee

June 7, 2011, Tuesday

Men’s basketball and women’s futsal teams became the first to be sent packing

KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak men’s basketball and women’s futsal teams became the first teams to pack their bags and go home after disappointing performances in their respective competitions.

The men cagers were sent packing yesterday after suffering their second consecutive defeat in group C, losing 52-57 to Melaka at Maba Stadium along Jalan hang Jebat.

They were beaten 84-81 by Kedah in their opening match.

Coach Lau Boon Hui said the main reasons for his team’s narrow defeat in both matches were that the players lacked stamina and were not very firm in the defence.

“In our match against Melaka today, our defence in the first half was quite slack. However, it improved in the third quarter but the players just ran out of steam in the fourth and final quarter to lose narrowly,” he said.

The focus will be now be on the women’s team who need to beat Melaka today to reach the last four.

After losing the opening match 66-37 to Selangor, Sarawak bounced back to beat Perak 57-54 to keep their hopes alive in the eight-team contest.

Also making the exit are the women’s futsal team who went down fighting 1-3 to Kuala Lumpur at the National Sports Complex (Panasonic).

They started their campaign on a winning note when they blanked Perlis 6-0 but lost 3-7 in the following match.

Sarawak men’s team will face Terengganu in the quarterfinals today.

The state cricket team are facing a slim chance of making the last eight after losing to Kelantan yesterday by four wickets.

In their opening match, they were narrowly beaten 104-100 by Johor and now they need to win their remaining matches against Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang.

Chief coach Chew Pok Cheong voiced his disappointment over the narrow defeat yesterday.

“We could have won today but the mistakes in the final minutes cost us the game,” he said, adding that he is hoping the players to do better in the following matches.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com