Wednesday October 24, 2012
Segamat up and running again but coach preaches caution
By KNG ZHENG GUAN
KUALA LUMPUR: The Segamat Basketball Association seem to have fully gotten over their slow start in the Malaysian National Basketball League (MNBL) women’s event after three flawless performances in front of their home fans in the second-leg last week.
But head coach Tai Chen Kiun has warned his players not to get too complacent.
Heavy favourites Segamat suffered a shocking loss – 77-79 – in the first match of the first-leg to KL Bina Puri in overtime.
However, they bounced back to beat the Singapore national team and KL Ruby as they slowly found their rhythm.
Last weekend, the title favourites, who are still competing without the injured R. Kalaimathi, defeated Singapore 75-52 in the first match before crushing Bina Puri 76-36 on Saturday.
On Sunday, Segamat doused the fire of a resurgent Ruby, powered by Filipino import Allana Lim, to win 63-59 and top the standings after two legs.
It was certainly a creditable performance as the Segamat girls showed their defensive resilience to limit Allana to just 15 points while Kew Suik May had 22 points of her own at the other end.
Suik May is also leading the scoring charts with a total of 78 points followed by team-mate Pang Hui Pin (68pts).
“It (the ame against Ruby) was by far one of the toughest matches we’ve played and we couldn’t have done it without the strong home support,” said Chen Kiun. “I want my girls to remain fully focused and continue to respect their opponents.
“We are in a good position now but we will still focus one match at a time.”
Segamat will face fourth-placed Singapore in the semi-finals this Saturday while Bina Puri, who finished second, will take on Ruby in the other match. The semi-finals will be played at the Maba Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
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