Taken from Borneo Bulletin - 29/06/2009

By Syafiq Affendy

YAM Pengiran Anak Mansurah Izzul Bolkiah of Chikara receiving her medal.

Second-placed Rebels from Indonesia with their medals and trophy.

Men's champions ... jubilant Zombies celebrating their victory. - PHOTOS: SYAFIQ AFFENDY

After 10 days of intense test of endurance, patience, skills and strategies, Zombies and Legends emerged as the champions in the men's and ladies' categories respectively of the first-ever MB Invitational Cup Softball Tournament held at Royal Brunei Polo Club in Jerudong yesterday.

The champions brought home medals, a trophy as well as cash prizes.
In the men's final, Zombies outclassed Black Arrows 9-2 in an unyielding match between two of the fastest-growing softball teams in Brunei. Black Arrows' defeat landed them in second place with Kensei finishing third.

In the ladies' final, Legends from Philippines had a tough match against Rebels but they managed to scrape four runs, ending the match with a final score of 4-0.

Rebels from Indonesia went home with all smiles as they finished in second place, followed by Chikara led by YAM Pengiran Anak Mansurah Izzul Bolkiah in third place.

Seven men and six ladies teams took part in the 10-day competition.
The seven men teams were Kensei, Wanderers, Zombies, Black Arrows, Bansai, Pirates and Sky Hawks from Malaysia while the ladies teams were Pasadena, Red Arrows, Chikara, Legends from Philippines, Comets and Rebels from Indonesia.

MB Invitational Cup 2009 - Gala Night

To see more click ----> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

HERE

MB Invitational Cup 2009 - Final

To see more click ------> HERE

Some pics during MB Invitational Cup

More pics here

"Winning isn't everything. The champions are the ones who received the championship trophies, but the true champs are the one who is trying hard to make the best out of bad situations..." I've said that before when Zombies X lost the President's cup 2008 to the Gunners. Well the Zombies did it again, trying hard to make the best out of the bad situations, the Gunners did too actually..

President's cup 2009, again pitting the 2 times holder Gunners vs PLK Zombies, it was a very exciting game with the Zombies batted well in the top 1st scoring 7 runs. The Zombies really came out firing in the top 1st, showing no sign of exhaustion after previous semi against the Black Arrows in the previous day. But 7 runs was the only run they managed to scored during the entire 7 inning, when the Gunners' pitcher and fielders defended well and gradually they scored runs until they tied the game at full 7 innings.

Come the tie break the Zombies scored 2 runs at top 8th, and eventually became the 2009 President's cup champion when the Gunners only managed to score 1 run.

The game wasn't that simple actually, it was exciting for both teams, playing well, defended and batted well, but tthe Zombies went out all gun blazing in the bottom 8th managed to outgunned the Gunners. Final score 9-8.

Congratulations to PLK Zombies, crowned as the 2009 President's Cup champions after 3 attempts and the only big cup that eluded them so far. Well done to both teams, for playing a very tensed but interesting game.

More Here

To the Zombies.... Dont stop enjoying the game.....

President's cup 2009 2nd week

Sorry for the delay y'all, it's been a tiring week for me, so many work load made me almost drained out. I really need to have a nice vacation, yea I wish......

Oooops... that's not softball is it? hehehe just wanna take our mind out of softball for a few seconds :)

More pics HERE

Against the Black Arrows

It was the start of the Brunei Softball President's Cup 2009, last sunday held at the softball field in Berakas. The first game was between PLK Zombies and the Black Arrows. It was a good game to watch actually. The Zombies lead the game but eventually lost to the Arrows 7-8. The Arrows made their winning run at the bottom 7th. Well the Zombies actually played well that day but they let themselves down during the final inning.

Not much to say actually, not that because the Zombies lost that game, but it was a good game to watch, but really not much to say. Both team fielded well but bat poorly. Only one Arrows managed to hit a homerun, none from the Zombies. Both team pitchers pitched well and struck out a few. Other than that, I cant think of anything, I'm still tired, from the game and from yesterday work loads, and from my unstable stomach.

Anyhow more pics here.

21/03/09 - On that particular day.....

The National team prospects has a friendly game with the Kensei last Saturday at Kensei's home field in Jerudong. It was a game that I should forget fast. The coach was really upset because I displayed bad plays, well I caught the ball but I threw bad. Well my reason that day was initially because I was wearing my new adidas metal cleats. I was wearing it at first was to break in the shoes, unlucky for me I didnt have time to change it before the warm-up play. As I'm not used to wearing one, my footwork was really changed as we were playing on grass diamond.

As I was driving home, alone, I was saying to myself that I should forget that game fast, instead my mind just wandering, wanted to analyis what actually went wrong, apart from that I'm not used to wear metal cleats. Well I thought I found some mistakes.

One was, I wasn't respect the opposing team enough. Don't get me wrong, what I meant was I did respect them but less than I respected my team, not because I was playing with the national team prospects, but because we trained hard everyday. I always reminded myself that I am not supposed to over respecting the opponent/s, but on that particular day, I didn't respect them enough. My mental part of the game wasnt ready, and I was not aware of that.

My second mistake was, I think because I tried very hard to impress the coach and my team mates. Well I think I've mentioned this in my previous post. I should have tried hard to impress myself more than others. I always did this mistake, which will always affected me, my game and my team mates, and on that particular day, the coach was very upset and the whole team were bombarded by the coach. A team mate tried to convince me that it wasnt entirely my fault, some of us did some or less mistakes too, but that wont cheer me up, because I knew that I didnt play well on that particular day.

For the Kensei, they played that well that day, and one particular guy that caught my intention was this guy that I knew, one of the infielders. He played well and I think he has improved his skills. I dont want to mention name here, I just hope he knew, and would like to congratulate him, and if he work/train hard, he will be a much more better player. By saying that, it doesnt mean that I'm saying I am better than him, if I do. I wont go training, but I was really impressed with his improvents.

We won that game actually, but it was really a game that I should forget and should remember those things that I learned on that particular day.

GIANTS MARATHON SOFTBALL GAMES..

From: www.indobaseball.com

Written by ILham Noor, on 18-02-2009 15:04
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12Sesuai dengan namanya ”Giants Cup” yang kalau diartikan adalah Piala Raksasa atau kejuaraan raksasa, panitia pun ingin membuat sesuatu yang beda, sesuatu yang besar. Selain kejuaraan softball, panitia juga mengadakan kompetisi cheerleaders dan lomba fotografi yang tak kalah menariknya. Berbagai macam perusahaan pun ikut mensponsori ”Gorgeous Cup nya” Softball putra ini. Dan terbukti, kejuaraan yang akan diadakan 2 tahun sekali ini mendapatkan respon yang baik dari masyarakat sekitar.

_Giants Cup 2009_
Pesta Ulang Tahunnya “Sang Raksasa”

Pada tanggal 12 – 15 Februari 2009 Lapangan softball pintu 1 Senayan Jakarta diramaikan oleh klub klub softball yang ingin membawa pulang total hadiah Rp. 20.000.000. Tidak hanya klub-klub di Indonesia saja, tim nasional softball putra Brunei Darussalam pun ikut menghadiri kejuaraan softball putra yang sekaligus menjadi hajatan ulang tahun klub softball Giants Jakarta.
Ketua panitia Giants Cup 2009, Teguh Imanriyadi mengatakan, “kejuaraan ini adalah kejuaraan yang pertamakali dilaksanakan, setelah Giants berulang tahun yang pertama pada bulan Januari 2009 lalu, namun akibat adanya berbagai macam hal, baru bulan Februari ini kita bisa menggelar tournament tersebut.”

Giants Cup 2009 adalah sebuah tournament softball putra yang bersifat marathon games, kjuaraan ini dibagi menjadi dua kelompok umur, Open Tournament (Copa) dan U-23 Tournament. Di kelompok Copa terdiri dari 13 tim softball putra, mereka adalah Doberman Bandung, OCBC NISP Bandung, Giants Jakarta, Radjawali Jakarta, Rebels Jakarta, Prambors Jakarta, Pejabat Jakarta, Blue Jays Jakarta, Eagles Jakarta, Balancer Tasikmalaya, Sixth Sense Lampung, Lakidende Sultra, dan Timnas Brunei. Garuda Jakarta, Blue Jays Jakarta, Pejabat Jakarta, Giants Jakarta, Gorgeous Bandung, bumi Asri Bandung, Bone Makassar, dan Partha Jogjakarta bersaing untuk menjadi yang terbaik di kelompok U-23.

Giants Cup 2009 ini bisa dibilang kejuaraan softball putra terbesar setelah Liga Softball Indonesia. Terbukti dengan hadirnya sejumlah pemain asing asal Fillipina yang membela beberapa klub peserta, ditambah dengan ikut sertanya timnas softball Brunei di kejuaraan ini. Namun Tegeg (begitu sapaan akrab Teguh) enggan menganggap kalau Giants Cup ini disetarakan dengan Liga Softball Indonesia. “Liga Softball kan ajang kompetisi yang professional, disana para atlet dikontrak untuk bermain. Namun Giants Cup adalah kejuaraan yang terbuka, siapa pun boleh bermain dimana saja.” ucap Tegeg yang juga memperkuat tim Blue jays di kelas Copa ini.

Kejuaraan ini pun disambut gembira oleh ketua PB. Perbasasi Gugun Yudinar, dengan kedatangan sejumlah pemain asing itu beliau berharap para pemain Indonesia bisa mengambil pelajaran dari mereka. ”Mereka adalah personil terbaik di negerinya, dan saya harap mereka bisa bebaur dan memberikan sesuatu yang bisa diambil oleh para atlet softball di Indonesia.” cetus Gugun usai membuka Giants Cup 2009.

Sesuai dengan namanya ”Giants Cup” yang kalau diartikan adalah Piala Raksasa atau kejuaraan raksasa, panitia pun ingin membuat sesuatu yang beda, sesuatu yang besar. Selain kejuaraan softball, panitia juga mengadakan kompetisi cheerleaders dan lomba fotografi yang tak kalah menariknya. Berbagai macam perusahaan pun ikut mensponsori ”Gorgeous Cup nya” Softball putra ini. Dan terbukti, kejuaraan yang akan diadakan 2 tahun sekali ini mendapatkan respon yang baik dari masyarakat sekitar.

Namun keberhasilan panitia tidak bisa disandingkan dengan tim softballnya, Giants U-23 dan tim copa Giants hanya bisa bertengger di posisi runner up, mereka masing-masing dikalahkan Garuda U-23 dan favorit juara Lakidende. Gorgeous U-23 menyusul di pringkat 3 dan Bumi Asri di pringkat 4. Di Copa, Sixth Sense bertengger di pringkat 3 disusul timnas Brunei di posisi 4.Pitcher Nasional Indonesia asal klub Lakidende berhasil menjadi yang terbaik, Ia meraih gelar The Best Pitcher, disusul rekan setimnya asal Fillipina Rosales yang menyabet gelar MVP dan The best Hitter di kejuaraan kali ini. DI kelompuk U-23, Bayu dari Giants meraih gelar The Best hitter, The Best pitcher diambil Adnan dari Garuda dan MVP dimenangkan oleh Aliev dari Garuda. [_IN23_]

A week of my Indonesia experience

Still tired from a one week softball tournment in Indonesia, Senayan to be exact. At first I was really reluctant to join the National team, luckily I was able to go, otherwise it will become my worst regrets. Honestly I was hoping that I cant join the team, for any reason. But being there, learning lots new things makes me so eager to join the team in any outings again, if I'm called to play.

To play in that tournament was really an eye opener, taught me alot, new experience, technique, friends gained.

It was a really well organized tornament, played in a stadium with 3 skinned diamonds, nice dug-outs, nice people, makes me feels like home and being among softball crazy people made it even more fantasoftballistic, for whatever that means hehehehe. Anyway games we played were not that tensed, but those games we played demanded more of our mental side of the game than the physical.

Placed in group A, consists of 6 teams, single round robin, we won 4, and lost once to Lakidende the eventual Giants softball Tournament champions, which consist largely of players from the Philippines national team, but that wasnt my excuse. I think they beat us because we gave them too much respect more than what they deserved, which in turn makes some of us nervous. Well that's what I thought, but in that game we lost, though less errors made, our batting wonders wasnt there.

First game score board

We managed to go to the semi against Giants, who again is better than us mentally I think. They beat us 9-5. Also our batting department let us down, though our defense wasnt that bad.

There are much to tell actually bout my experience, since it's also my first ever Indonesia trip, which really makes me feel like I'm home, may be due to the majority are malays. But it was a very good trip. I'm really looking forward for another outing, where ever it will be.

The Champions

The 1st runner-up

Click here for pictures of my one week experience.

Softball: Brunei fall in Jakarta semis

Jason Thomas
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Tuesday, February 17, 2009

BRUNEI Amateur Softball and Baseball Association (Basba) secretary-general Maj (R) Wan Mohd Tambrin Shah yesterday attributed the national team's failure to reach the final of the 2009 Giant Indonesian Open in Jakarta down to their lack of mental preparation.

Arriving back from Jakarta yesterday after the six-day, 13-team tournament ended on Sunday, Wan Mohd Tambrin Shah felt that the national team could have done better had they been less nervous during their semi-final match against first runner-up Giants which they lost 8-4.

After a bright start to the tournament held at the Pintu Satu Senayan softball field in Jakarta which saw them go undefeated in their first three group matches, the national team lost their fourth match to eventual Champions Lakidende 7-0.

Lakidende are from the Philippines and consist largely of players from the Philippines national team.

They sealed their place in the last four when they beat Jakarta's Radjawali 9-4.

"I think we lost in the semi-finals because we were not mentally prepared enough for that match," said the secretary-general, who was also a member of the team.

"We were more careful than normal in that match. Too careful.

"We were not nervous during our group matches and maybe we pushed ourselves to perform too much during that stage that we were not playing as well as we should have during the semi-finals," he added.

The nature of the competition which forced teams to play matches everyday for four days was something the national team were unaccustomed to and Wan Mohd Tambrin Shah readily admitted that.

"It was physical as well, playing continuously for four days," he said.

"That is something new for this team."

"We need to practise more together and improve our coordination," he replied when asked about the positives the team could take from the tournament.

The tournament marked the first time the national sluggers had competed in Jakarta and was a return to Indonesia after a break of 17 years.

Their first match on Wednesday was a 9-7 result against Pejabat of Jakarta, while their second came on the same day when they beat Bandung 8-5. Brunei picked up their third win against Jakarta Eagles, a 8-4 result.

According to Wan Mohd Tambrin Shah, Basba is now looking forward to a tournament between Asean countries that it will organise in July to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the association's inception.The Brunei Times