Wise Man...

...He Was Not!

The Higher Education League (Liga IPT) 2011 has begun since early March with a number of higher education institutions in Terengganu taking part. Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) are playing in the second division while Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Kolej Komuniti Terengganu (KKT) are trying to qualify to the divisional tournament from their Eastern qualifying group.

Unfortunately, mad redo1 is yet to be at any of the matches due to other engagements or fixture mix-up. The other day he went to the Gong Badak Sports Complex to cover a Liga IPT match between UMT and IKIP.

As it happened the week before when there was supposed to be a match between UniSZA and UniSel, there was also no Liga IPT match anywhere within the sports complex. Instead the Terengganu Sports School, SMK Bukit Nanas were taking on SMK Tun Hussien Onn of Johor in the 2011 U-17 Ministry of Education League.

Since he was already there, mad redo1 decided to snap a few shots of the match which already went underway. The sight of the pitch gave him much horror as it was already in a bad state due to the heavy rain that has fallen over the past few days.

To compound the matter, an U-14 match between the two schools had already taken place prior to the U-17 match on the same pitch. Terengganu were a goal to the good at the time.

Then the sky opened up and torrential rain with strong wind engulfed the complex leaving almost everybody drenched. The pitch was quickly becoming waterlogged and play was impossible. Fortunately the interval saved the players from taking further punishment from mother nature.

Many were thinking the match would have to be abandoned due to the state of the pitch. Most parts were waterlogged and the markings were not clear at all. However the match commissioner gave the thumbs up for the match to go on.

It was a decision that defied belief. Later mad redo1 heard one of the reason for the match to go on was to teach the players to play in such conditions.

What the heck?

Did he realise that playing in such conditions would invite potential injuries to the young players? Or there was no good football possible except for the 'Wimbledon' kind that kick the ball as far up the field as possible and hope it would bring an opening to the opponents' goal out of it.

To make matter worse was the way the referee was handling the match. He seemed to happily blow every time a Johor player went down and was quite generous in handing out cards to the home team players, which resulted in a double yellow for one just prior to half-time. However he was very lenient when it came to the visitors.

This drew howls of frustration from the majority of the crowd which already entered the officials area due to the heavy rain.

Then someone from the home camp shouted angrily in a general direction, more due to frustration than any intention to cause any trouble. Unfortunately, the match commissioner who was quite experienced due to his long involvement in football refereeing responded, which was surprising.

It became a heated exchange during which the commissioner shouted for the man to 'bark' outside. Being equalled to a dog was the last straw and the crowd became rowdy. A few more joined in and suddenly nobody care about the match anymore, and the fact that Johor managed to level the score late in the match.

It was a tense moment with the match officials having to stay on the pitch to avoid confrontation while the commissioner quickly packed his things and went into hiding near to the home dressing room.

It was a situation that could be avoided had the match commissioner practice restraint and patience. Instead of responding the way he did, the match commissioner should act nonchalant and just record the progress of the match and its situation.

Perhaps, he should be wiser and not continuing with the match at all in the first place due to the pitch and weather conditions during the match.


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Persisting...

Gap.

Being away to Kedah and Perlis meant mad redo1 missed the FA Cup matches between T-Team and Kelantan. Then the planned extra trip to Penang to catch USM FC vs Terengganu at the USM Athletic Stadium had to be shelved due to lack of time.

While back home the National Badminton Circuits Finals were being held at the State Stadium in Kuala Terengganu from 18-21 February 2011. However with mad redo1 checking in at 2230hrs on Sunday meant he only had the final day itself to get some shots of the actions.

The main draw for the finals of course the Men's Single Final between World No.1 Dato' Lee Chong Wei against youngster Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif who defeated several seeded players to qualify for his first national final.

The Mixed Doubles match was underway when mad redo1 stepped into the arena. The title was being contested by Tan Boon Heong-Chin Eei Hui against Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying. The latter won the first set but Tan and Chin fought back to win the next two sets and clinched the title with a 13-21, 21-18, 21-16 score.

Then it was the Women's Singles Final between defending champions Tee Jing Yi and Sonia Cheah. The match also went to rubber set after Sonia tied the score after losing the first set. However Tee was in her element in the deciding set to clinch her second successive National title with a 21-14, 15-21, 21-14 result.

By this time the arena was packing up with badminton fans eager to catch their hero Chong Wei in action against the young upstart, Mohamad Arif.

However, when the match started, it was clear the gulf of class was that big between the World No.1 and the 22 year old shuttler from Negeri Sembilan. Trying hard as he might Arif was clearly not on parity in terms of ability and experience with Chong Wei who was playing for his ninth National title.

However, one could see there was grit and determination in the youngster's game and given more time and exposure he could fulfill his potential to become an international class player.

However, this time Arif bowed to Chong Wei who wrapped the match with the score of 21-16, 21-15 in 40 minutes. Still the crowd seemed to be generally satisfied and entertained with the match. 

The next two finals saw both the Women's Doubles and Men's Doubles took place. Despite not featuring top pairs in the country, the number of crowd that stayed on till the end were quite large.

The partnership of Ng Poau Leng-Woon Khe Wei clinched the Women's Double title with a straight set victory of 21-18, 21-10 over Chong Sook Chin-Goh Liu Ying. While the last title of the night was won by the pair Tan Boon Heong-Hoon Thien How who defeated Ong Soon Hock-Fairuzizuan Tazari 21-14, 10-21, 21-19.



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School...

...Rules!

Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar (SSBP) emerged as Champions of the National U-16 Women Hockey Tournament 2010 after defeating Kuala Lumpur in the final at the MBKT Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.

After a goalless first half SSBP struck twice in quick succession through Norshahida Sakira Kirman and Liyana Aqilah Mohamad Sepawi towards the end of the match against the City Girls to record a 2-0 win. This left them together with host Terengganu as the only unbeaten teams in the tournament.

Earlier The Girl Turtles defeated Melaka 4-2 to clinch third place. The win showed the mental strength of the players after suffering a heartbreaking penalty-stroke defeat to Kuala Lumpur yesterday evening.

The individual awards were evenly spread with the tournament Top-scorer was won by SSBP's Hanis Nadiah Onn while the award for the Best Goalkeeper was won by Terengganu Noor Rul Azwani Zuraiden. Kuala Lumpur Surizan Awang Noh was named as the Player of the Tournament award.


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Heartbreaks...

...for Lady Turtles

It was heartbreak hotel for the Terengganu girls this evening when they lost to Kuala Lumpur in the semi-final of the National U-16 Women Hockey Tournament 2010 at the MBKT Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu. Both teams failed to find the net during regulation time and the extra-time also failed to break the stalemate.

In the end the match had to be settled through the lottery of penalty strokes. In the failing light due to the stadium's non-functional floodlights, the City Girls held their nerve to edge the host 3-2. Kuala Lumpur went through to meet the winner of the first semi-final between Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar (SSBP) and Melaka.

The sports school did not have much difficulties in disposing the Group A champions with a one sided score of 4-1. Melaka now will play Terengganu tomorrow morning to determine third and fourth place while the final between SSBP and Kuala Lumpur will take place in the afternoon.


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March On...

...Girls!

Melaka continued their march into the last four of the National U-16 Women Hockey Tournament 2010 after a clinical 2-0 win over rivals Kuala Lumpur at the Majlis Bandaraya Kuala Terengganu Hoockey Stadium this morning. The win put them on top of the Group A table, level on points with Kuala Lumpur but having a superior goal difference than the City Girls.

Pulau Pinang played twice in a day due to some technical problems in their travel to the East Coast but at the end of the day put themselves in third place with an outside chance to qualify to the last four even though it will be a difficult task as their last match will be against the free scoring Melaka side.

Both Melaka and Kuala Lumpur could confirm their places in the last four tomorrow when they take on Johor and Negeri Sembilan respectively. The same outcome would be on the cards tomorrow in Group B after both Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar (SSBP) and host Terengganu registered their third consecutive win today.

Both teams only managed to score single goal victory over their opponents but they were enough to put them on top of the Group B standings. SSBP overcame a gritty Selangor side with Nurul Nadiah scoring through a field goal four minutes before the interval.

Meanwhile Terengganu found it hard to breach a resolute Kedah defence and had to wait until the 54th minute before Nurul Idayu getting the all important strike in a well worked out field goal.

Terengganu will take on Kelantan in an East Coast derby while another East Coast side Pahang will provide the opponent for SSBP.

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Girls'...

...Power

Host Terengganu and Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar continued their winning form to lead the rest in Group B after registering their second win of the National U-16 Women Hockey Tournament 2010.

Kelantan were at the end of another hammering, going down 6-0 to the sports school outfit while Terengganu were forced to work hard by Selangor before winning their encounter by the match solitary goal.

Pahang and Kedah played out to a 2-2 draw in another Group B match. Melaka opened their campaign by recording a 7-0 victory over their northern neighbour Negeri Sembilan. Kuala Lumpur meanwhile continued their winning ways by defeating Pulau Pinang 3-0 to top Group A with maximum points from two matches.

More photos HERE.



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Sticking...

...Around

The 2010 National U-16 Women Hockey Tournament is being held in Kuala Terengganu from 28 November 2010 until 4 December 2010. Matches are played at two venues; the Majlis Bandaraya Kuala Terengganu Hockey Stadium in Batu Buruk and the Gong Badak Sports Complex. However, most matches are held at the former due to its better facilities.

Eleven teams take part in the event and are divided into two groups. Group A consists of Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Pulau Pinang while Kedah, Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar(SSBP), Selangor, Kelantan, Pahang and host Terengganu are in Group B.

On the opening day Kuala Lumpur defeated Johor 2-1 in the sole Group A match while SSBP opened their campaign with a 5-0 thrashing of Kedah. In the afternoon session Selangor repeated the 5-0 scoreline when they overcame Kelantan while host Terengganu had to stage a second half comeback after Pahang led them 1-0 at the interval. The Young Lady Turtles scored thrice to make the final score 3-1 in their favour.

For more photos, please go HERE


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