…my cuppa iced coffee…

This year marked the 19th edition of the netball tournament organised anually by the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Pulau Pinang. This year also saw less number of teams participating, especially from the country which previously never failed to send teams every year – Sri Lanka.

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!

Sunday, 28/06/2009, marked the final day of the 7th Asian Netball Championship 2009 with the final match between Singapore and Sri Lanka at the Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara. It proved to be a rather lopsided match, with Sri Lanka holding the obvious advantage with their over 6 foot GS, Tharjani Sivalingam. The result was Sri Lanka 77 and Singapore 48. This is Sri Lanka’s 4th title after winning the championship in 1990, 1997 and 2001.

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.
   _
   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.
   .
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.
   .
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

“What is so hard about never getting hungry, feeling good, having more energy, more focus, seeing health parameters improve and losing weight without even trying?”

After years of studying Medical literature and conducting clinical studies on the Metabolic Syndrome, Dr. Strand, a family physician who specialises in nutritional medicine, could recite research statistics from memory if you asked him about his findings. But he got shocked when he found out that 9 to 10% of adult Malaysians have developed diabetes.

“We have a worldwide problem and it’s not just in the US and Canada, but also in New Zealand and Australia,” he said.

The Metabolic Syndrome, which increases the risk of diabetes, is said to affect 25% of the US and Canadian adult population, according to the Journal of American Medical Association. Despite extensive publicity and research, doctors are diagnosing the disease too late, he added.

Images courtesy of GI News

According to a diabetologist in the US, more than 60% of the people whom physicians diagnose with diabetes already had some form of cardiovascular disease and 80% of them may die prematurely of a cardiovascular event.

“You can’t lose weight if you have underlying insulin resistance,” Dr. Strand said. ”People with insulin resistance hold on to fat like a sponge holds on to water. It’s an abnormal metabolic state where calories are no longer a culprit because the muscles cannot utilise the calories normally.

“In my medical practice, I started to think that since the problem is insulin resistance – which means we are not as sensitive to our insulin as we once were – we need to make lifestyle changes to improve insulin sensitivity. It is just common sense,” he added.

Improving insulin sensitivity

To find out how insulin sensitivity can be improved, Dr. Strand referred to medical literature for answers. He discovered researches showing that when people don’t make their blood sugar levels rise suddenly (by eating food with high Glycaemic Index), their bodies respond by secreting less insulin hormones (fat storage hormones) and more glucagon hormones (fat releasing hormones).

“This improves insulin sensitivity from a certain type of mechanism,” he said.

And this is not the only way of doing it. Exercise can also do the trick, although in a different way.

“A modest aerobic activity will improve your insulin sensitivity, but not weight resistance training,” he said. So, if you go for a 30-minute brisk walk or do an equivalent of aerobic activity five days a week, you would significantly improve your insulin sensitivity.

Image courtesy of guzenmedia.com

Also, research has shown that supplementing some nutrients at an advanced level (more than the Recommended Dietary Allowance) also increases insulin sensitivity through yet another mechanism, he said.

And so, in the year 2005, Dr. Strand and his partners decided to put a combination of these 3 approaches to test in a pilot study on 25 people (5 men, 20 women) who were at risk to develop full-blown Metabolic Syndrome.

By putting the participants through a 12-week  lifestyle modification program involving low-glycaemic functional foods (meal replacements), a low-glycaemic diet and modest exercise, they wanted to see if the program could reverse some of the symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome in affected people.

On average, the participants lost about 6% of their initial body weight, their Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference declined and other parameters of the syndrome improved.

Blood pressure, for example, declined from a baseline average of 131/86 mmHg to 121/80 mmHg (normal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg). Average total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and fasting blood sugars also dropped after 12 weeks on the program.

The study concluded that these changes are consistent with a reversal of the Metabolic Syndrome with significant improvements in cardiovascular and metabolic health, said Dr. Strand.

A subsequent study conducted at the University of Colorado on 60 people revealed similar results, he added.

Another study done by a doctor who gave a group of 12-year-old boys a low glycaemic breakfast or lunch and another group a high glycaemic equivalent found out that the group who ate high-glycaemic breakfasts or lunches ate about 80% more calories compared to their counterparts who ate low glycaemic meals. And similar results were also found when the doctor switched the groups, said Dr. Strand.

Not ‘no carbs’, but take ‘good carbs’

Is it difficult to sell the idea of low glycaemic diet to Asia where carbohydrate is staple?

“Yes, it is. But it is difficult in the US too,” Dr. Strand said. “All of our grains are processed and high glycaemic, and we (in the US) have the same problem as yours. That is why it is about food choices we make rather than abstinence or cutting out carbohydrates.”

Images courtesy of GI News

For Dr. Strand, anything with a Glycaemic Index of over 60 is considered high and those between 40 and 60 are moderate.

Describing his experience in encouraging his patients to go on a low glycaemic diet, Dr. Strand said, “(In the end), my patients come back to me and say ‘What is so hard about never getting hungry, feeling good, having more energy, more focus, seeing health parameters improve and losing weight without even trying?’”

For more information on the glycaemic index of foods, please visit the University of Sydney’s School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences Human Nutrition Unit database at www.glycemicindex.com.

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Source: Sunday Star 27 April 2008, Reversing the Metabolic Syndrome by Lim Wey Wen.