10 teams participated in the men’s category, including 1 new team, and 16 in the women’s. The venue this year was changed from the usual indoor court in Kelana Jaya near the MAS building to another indoor court in Petaling Jaya near Jalan 222.

Not that I have any issue with that. As long as it’s indoor, I’m perfectly okay!

Here are the results for the preliminary rounds for the men’s category:

It was a bit of a misfortune that my team, Legend Deluxe, lost to Cobra A by 1 point even though we led by 2 points (twice!) during the game. Otherwise, we would’ve made it to the semi. Ah well.. better luck next time.

In the semi-finals, team Royale (the defending champion) met team KL Tower Y and Legend Premium (the defending 1st runner-up ) met Cobra A.

And for the 3rd year in a row, team Royale met team Legend in the final.

And for the 3rd year in a row also, team Royale beat team Legend in the final.

For the women’s game, as expected, the teams who made it to the final were team UMW (the favourite) and the host, team MBPJ. And as expected, team UMW won the game comfortably.

Congratulations to the winners. For the other teams, better luck next time. Keep practicing.

So only 105 teams registered under 9 categories:

1. Girls Under 12 (10 teams)
2. Girls Under 15 (15 teams)
3. Girls Under 18 (12 teams)
4. USM Men (6 teams)
5. USM Women (13 teams)
6. Men’s Institutions of Higher Learning (4 teams)
7. Women’s Institutions of Higher Learning (8 teams)
8. Men’s Open (15 teams)
9. Women’s Open (22 teams)

Men’s Open

The men’s teams were divided into 5 groups, which, I think, was rather odd. 4 groups would be more logical since it solves the problem of selecting teams to the quarter finals. But, since the organiser wanted it that way…

Group round matches were fought in the sun and rain. Here are the results for the preliminary rounds:

The top 2 teams from each group advanced to the next round. Group champions qualified automatically to the quarter finals. Second placings, except for one lucky team, had to fight another round for a place with the group champions in the quarter.

Cobra Bravo and Legend Premier went through to the quarter finals. The weather was alternately sunny and cloudy throughout the day. It didn’t rain, fortunately.

Here are the results for the quarter finals.

In the semis, it was sibling rivalries where Cobra met Cobra and Legend met Legend.

And Legend met Cobra in the final.

For the past 3 years, USM Open Men’s category was won by team Royale. They did not participate this year, thus giving chances to other teams to win. And so there was a new winner this year.

Congratulations to Cobra Charlie.

My only comment is on the quality of the referee. After 17 years, it seems like the organisers have never learned from whatever happened in the previous years. With regards to men’s netball, I would like to point out that we are NOT there for fun only. We want to win. We know the rules. We are a lot better than most of the women’s teams. So we expect the referees to be good. It was really disheartening to have to scold the referees over the simplest mistakes.

Referees and organisers, please learn and improve!

To be realistic, though, I don’t think Sri Lanka would’ve won the game so easily without Tharjani (who contributed 74 out of Sri Lanka’s 77 goals). Singapore is one tough team to crack and they’ve played extremely well during the whole tournament.

Malaysia vs Sri Lanka (semi-final)
Photo thanks to jet_4orce flickr

There were only 3 teams out of the 9 participated who had the best chance of winning the tournament, namely Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore (not in any particular order ). Without the tall GS, though, I would say Sri Lanka’s chances of winning would not be so good.

But watching them played was really really inspiring. I wonder when would men’s netball in Malaysia be recognised by the Persatuan Bola Jaring Malaysia (Malaysia Netball Association) so that there would be similar tournaments for men.

Anyway, here are the results for the whole championship:

Losers’ pool semi-final:

Semi-final:

Top 8:

The finalists of this tournament qualified for the 2011 World Cup in Singapore. As the host, however, Singapore automatically qualified. So even though Malaysia got 3rd place, we managed to get a place in the then tournament. Well done, girls!

The day finally came and it was filled with excitement and expectations. 9 teams participated: 3 from Legend, 3 from Cobra, 2 from GM and team Proteen. SBB Country pulled out at the last minute, which was rather unfortunate since this is a new team and this tournament would be a good exposure for them.

The teams were divided into 2 groups: Legend A, Legend B, Cobra Charlie, Cobra Alpha and GM Senior in Group A, and GM Junior, Proteen, Cobra Bravo and Legend C in Group B.

Here are the results at group level:

Top 4 teams from each group qualified for the quarter finals. Of course, every team in Group B qualified automatically.

Here are the results for quarter finals and the semis:

Cobra Alpha met GM Junior at the final, which was won by Cobra Alpha with the score of 6-3. They received the challenge trophy, medals, hamper and cash prize RM 1,000. Congratulations to Cobra Alpha. GM Junior received medals, hamper and cash prize RM 750.

Photo courtesy of Cobra on the Net

Legend A beat GM Senior for the third placing and received medals, hamper and cash prize RM 500. GM Senior received hamper and cash RM 300. The 4 quarter finalists each received hampers and cash RM 150, while Cobra Charlie received a hamper. Individual awards were also given to selected players.

Congratulations to everyone for making the tournament a success.

Kejohanan Bola Jaring Lelaki Terbuka
LEGEND 2009
Pusat Sukan NPNG Sungai Buloh
24 Mei 2009

Untuk pertanyaan dan borang pendaftaran kejohanan, sila hubungi:
For enquiry and registration form, please contact:

Mohd Firdaus Mazalan :: 012-299.1080
Siti Zaharah Suin :: 012-333.4673

Anda juga boleh muat-turun borang pendaftaran di sini:
You can also download the registration form here:

Borang Pendaftaran Kejohanan Bola Jaring
Lelaki Terbuka LEGEND 2009

Syarat-syarat am kejohanan (General rules of championship):

1. Yuran penyertaan sebanyak RM 100 bagi setiap pasukan mestilah dibayar sebelum 15 Mei 2009. Pasukan-pasukan yang tidak membayar yuran penyertaan tidak akan dibenarkan bermain. Yuran penyertaan tidak akan dikembalikan.
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   Entry fee of RM 100 per team must be paid before 15 May 2009. The teams who have not paid the entry fee will not be allowed to play. Entry fee is not refundable.
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2. Setiap pasukan dibenarkan mendaftar 10 orang pemain, seorang pengurus dan seorang jurulatih sahaja.
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   Each team is allowed to register 10 players, one manager and one coach only.
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3. Jawatankuasa pengelola kejohanan tidak membenarkan pasukan Royale untuk menyertai kejohanan ini. Pasukan-pasukan yang menghantar ahli-ahli daripada pasukan Royale akan dibatalkan penyertaan mereka.
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   The organiser reserves the right to not allowing team Royale from participating in the championship. Other teams who have members of team Royale playing for them will be disqualified.
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4. Kejohanan akan dijalankan mengikut undang-undang Persatuan Sukan Kebangsaan serta peraturan-peraturan yang ditetapkan oleh jawatankuasa pengelola kejohanan.
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   Championship will follow the rules of the National Sports Association, plus the additional rules set by the organiser.
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5. Sistem pertandingan: Pusingan pertama adalah berbentuk liga kumpulan. Pusingan kedua dan seterusnya berbentuk sistem kalah mati.
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   Game format: First round will follow league format. Second and subsequent rounds will be played in sudden death format.
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6. Hadiah akan diberikan kepada lapan (8) pasukan teratas. Hadiah-hadiah individiu juga akan diberikan kepada pemain-pemain yang layak.
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   Prizes will be awarded to top eight (8) teams. Individual prizes will also be awarded to qualified players.
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7. Tarikh tutup penyertaan: 15 Mei 2009.
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   Closing date: 15 May 2009