ITB beat UPM to take table tennis crown

INSTITUT TEKNOLOGI BRUNEI'S (ITB's) table tennis team were crowned champions at the 2009 Borneo Universities' Staff Sports Championship yesterday beating Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) 4-1 at the Multipurpose Hall of the Menglait Sports Complex.

ITB were the only unbeaten team throughout the three-day event.

In the semi-finals on Wednesday, ITB defeated Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah 3-0 while UPM beat Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) by the same scoreline to advance to the final.

"I think this competition is very good. It has allowed us to know the other players coming from the other universities," said ITB's Hj Irwan Mashadi Hj Mashud, who has been coaching the team.

"It also allows us to exchange our ideas not only about sports but also academically," added Hj Irwan, who has been playing table tennis for 11 years.

According to Hj Irwan, the team had been training twice a week for the past two months.

In their previous encounter, ITB had beaten UPM 5-0.

Coordinator for the table tennis event, Hj Md Jamil Dato Hj Abdul Hamid, said that the event received good response since only one out of the eight contingents couldn't send players to participate in the sport.

"The important thing about this tournament is to create a bonding between the players and also to promote friendship. It is also an opportunity for the foreign players to get to know the hosts (Universiti Brunei Darussalam) and also the country," added Hj Md Jamil.

Third place went to Unimas after they defeated UiTM Sabah 3-2 in a closely contested affair.

Present as guest of honour to hand over the medals was Metussin Hj Bakir, Deputy Registrar of Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Elsewhere, UiTM Sarawak defeated UPM 4-2 while Unimas thrashed UiTM Sabah 7-0 in the semi-finals of the futsal Open Category.

In the veteran category, Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College (Kupu SB) defeated UiTM Sarawak 1-0.

In the other semi-final, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) defeated UiTM Sabah 3-0.

In the darts competition, Salim Ak Langgoi of Unimas took home the gold medal in the singles category followed by Safizie Saji of UiTM Sarawak as runner-up and Ghazali Thambi of Unimas in third place.

In the doubles category, Md Ali and Md Azrie of UMS took first place followed by Saharini and Rozaiman of UBD in second and Isa and Hilary of Unimas in third.

The ten-pin bowling event saw Edwin Harun of UMS emerge as champion with a score of 1,124 in the men's category while Affandi Othman of Unimas took silver with a score of 1,102 and Wagiman Kasim bagged the bronze with a score of 1,095.

The women's category was won by Iyliana Abdullah of Unimas with a score of 1,006 followed by Amu Sepin with a score of 970 and Margaret Simeng in third with a score of 950.

The ten-pin bowling team event saw UMS pocket the gold medal with a total score of 2,756 in the men's category. Appearing as runners-up to take silver were Unimas with a total score of 2,736 while UBD B took the bronze with a total score of 2,279.

For the women's category, Unimas won the gold with a total score of 2,390 followed closely behind by UMS with a total score of 2,306 and UBD A taking the bronze with a total score of 2,161.

In tennis, the games in the morning saw Fakhrrudin Urup of UPM beat Samsuddin Mohd Amin of UiTM Sabah 8-1 while Muhammad Tauffik Mohd Noor of UMS defeated UBD's Dr John Onu Odihi by the same scoreline. In the afternoon game, Tauffik defeated Fakhruddin 8-5.

In football, UMS were held to a 1-1 draw by Kupu SB at the Kebajikan Track and Field while UiTM Sarawak showed no mercy to UPM demolishing their opponents 12-3 at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex yesterday.

Football action will continue today with UMS going up against UBD at the Kebajikan Track and Field. The second game will see UiTM Sabah take on UiTM Sarawak at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 4pm.The Brunei Times