IT was a blast for everyone at the 1st Malaysian Inline Hockey Tournament (MIH09) which took place on 7th and 8th February 2009 at Sports Plaza, Seksyen 13, Petaling Jaya, and when the dust settled, it was the two teams from Singapore - Team Piranhas and Team Urban who grabbed the major honours.
Piranhas were definitely the team to beat and it was no surprise that they made the final when they were neck and neck with Urban for most of the match.But Piranhas's greater skills saw them take the lead in the very last minutes of the match, leading to their championship win of 4-3.
Local favourites, Team Underdogs of Selangor, who are also the tournament organisers, received rave reviews from their international visitors who have agreed to return for next year’s tournament – MIHT10.
“We have worked tremendously hard in putting this together using what resources we have. Though the sport is not so widespread in Malaysia, I am confident that now we will see more teams coming together.
"We hope that with support from bodies like MBPJ, inline hockey will soar to greater heights in Malaysia,” said Craig Matthew Lee, president of MIHT09 organizing committee and captain of Team Underdogs.
The two-day tournament had participation by 10 teams from all over the region. Each team played 4 games in a round robin manner, each game consisting of 14 minutes per half with two halves per matchThe teams were Team Underdogs Blue (Malaysia Men’s), Team Underdogs Red (Malaysia Men’s), Team Galacticans (Malaysia Men’s), Team O'Star s (Malaysia Men’s), Team Piranhas (Singapore Men’s), Team Nova (Singapore Women’s), Team Urban (Singapore Men’s), Team Manila Roosters (Philippines mixed team), Team Hong Kong Red (Men’s), and Team Hong Kong Blue (Men’s).
The tournament was capped with a prize-giving and appreciation dinner which was held at Hilton KL for participating teams, officials and sponsors.
The prize-giving and appreciation dinner was graced by guest-of-honour, YB Edward Lee Poh Lin, State Legislative Assemblyman of Bukit Gasing who awarded the winning teams their medals and is keen on continual support for inline hockey.
He said, “It’s a very robust game, and I think it’s good for the young people to be able to handle their temperament in a robust game, at the same time not hitting each other. I understand that nobody got hurt. Everybody enjoyed the game, and that's important."
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