Yeoh (holding the flag) during the Jalur Gemilang handover to the squad which will be vying for gold in the upcoming world championships in Austria. — Photos: SHAARI CHEMAT/The Star
With superb agility and precision, Team Skatepark breezed through a comfortable win against Team Boltz in the National Dodgeball Championship (NDC) Amateur Female category final.
They sealed the game 8-1 to silence their opponent.
But for Skatepark Amateur Female Team’s most valuable player (MVP) Lau Yuen Shuen, the victory came as a complete surprise.
“Most of the players are new here as the majority of us just started playing the sport.
“The win was unexpected, especially when we drew with Team Boltz twice during the qualifiers,” she told StarMetro after the prize-giving ceremony at Sportizza, Petaling Jaya in Selangor.
A total of 37 teams from 11 states participated in the event.
Players competed in five categories, namely amateur and professional categories for male and female teams plus a co-ed category.
Playing in the team’s right-wing position, Lau said she started playing dodgeball two years ago.
“It started off as a casual thing, playing with my friends who introduced me to dodgeball.
“I had a lot of fun and as I got more serious and into the sport, I went on to become competitive.
“This time, I also played in the co-ed team as the guard,” she said.
Team Blitz captain Ng Kheng Luen was exhilarated when his team topped the co-ed category, beating Team Skatepark’s co-ed team 6-3.
Yeoh (seventh from left) and Radhakrishnan (on her right) with Team Skatepark at the closing ceremony.
“The final was tough but I felt that the semi-finals, when we went against Team Anak Malaya, was more challenging.
“We managed to beat Team Anak Malaya 6-4 to get to the finals,” he said.
Ng said his strategy in encouraging the female players to go on the attack paid off.
“Normally, the men would attack more but I told the rest of the team to go on the offensive and believe in themselves,” he said.
Malaysia Association of Dodgeball president Datuk V. Radhakrishnan said this year’s NDC saw more teams participating.
“There has been an increasing trend of dodgeball in schools and colleges, and the sport is getting more competitive among youngsters.
“We see the potential for this game to grow here, on home ground,” he said.
Radhakrishnan said the national team would be vying for gold at the 2024 World Dodgeball Championships in Austria this August.
“We will be defending the champion’s title for the Men’s Foam category after winning it in the 2022 World Dodgeball Championships held in Canada.
“There will be 40 countries participating in this year’s championship and we expect tough competition, especially from Australia, New Zealand, United States and Mexico,” he said.
The annual championship was not held last year.
Radhakrishnan said that for the first time, this year’s championships would not have any qualifying rounds.
“For this year, they will have to battle it out in a round-robin format.
“This encourages more teams to join,” explained the World Dodgeball Federation vice-president for the Asia region.
Malaysia, he said, had also won the bid to host the 2026 World Dodgeball Championship, making it the first Asian nation to have done so.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh announced a RM50,000 grant from her office to fund the dodgeball association’s operations and participation in international competitions.
“Participation in team sports is very expensive due to the number of players and I urge corporate and government linked companies to invest in youth, and sports development.
“Interested parties can discuss the details with my office,” she said at the NDC closing ceremony.
Yeoh handed over the Jalur Gemilang to the national dodgeball contingent who will be heading to the 2024 championships.
Also present during the ceremony were the ministry’s sports, co-curriculum and arts division director Zainuren Mohd Nor and association patron Datuk Abdul Malek Noor.
Winners in the amateur female category were Skatepark, Boltz and Elf who bagged gold, silver and bronze respectively.
In the male category, Blitz won the gold, YYDC clinched the silver and Legency took home the bronze.
Gold in the professional female and male categories went to GOAT and Valkyries, respectively.
Silver in these categories were won by Valkyries (female) and Aces (male).
Anak Malaya (female) and Wolf (male) took home the bronze.
Co-ed teams of Blitz, Skatepark and Anak Malaya wrested gold, silver and bronze respectively.
For the MVPs, the women competitors awarded were Lau (amateur), Megan Eng (professional) and Elysia Goh (co-ed).
Male winners of this category were Adam Looi (amateur), Fam Jia Yi (professional) and Chin Qi Le (co-ed).
