HRH and mates are champions

THE Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) netball team successfully defended their crown with a 16-11 victory over Zone II in the final of the 3rd Ministry of Education (MoE) Netball Championship held at the Multipurpose Hall of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas.

UBD defeated Temburong 13-8 and Zone II beat Tutong 15-10 in the semi-finals to set up the repeat of last year's championship clash.

Zone II started out the more aggressive of the two teams, passing the ball well and hustling on defence.

On the other hand, UBD were making bad passes that were easily intercepted by their opponents. However, UBD switched gears midway through the opening period while Zone II struggled at the offensive end.

The scoreboard read 3-2 in favour of UBD midway through the 15-minute period before they went on to score four unanswered points to open up a 7-2 lead. UBD continued to execute well and eventually cruised to a 9-4 lead at halftime.

Both teams started out equally in the second half with UBD maintaining their five-point cushion.

However, Zone II picked up their game and closed the gap to within 13-11 with five minutes left in the match. However, that was as close as they got before UBD wrapped up the match for their second straight title.

"I'm very satisfied with the results ... the players have improved their game since the start of the tournament," said Hjh Masriatol Zuraifah Hj Sazali, the playing coach of UBD, in an interview with The Brunei Times, after the victory.

"We trained three times a week from mid January and it pays off," added Hjh Masriatol Zuraifah, who won the best defender award.

Dr Diana Chong of UBD was named the Most Valuable Player of the three-day tournament while Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah, who scored the last three baskets for UBD, won the topscorer award netting 67 times at the event.

Meanwhile, Tutong bagged the bronze medal after defeating Temburong 17-13 in the third-place playoff.

In the newly introduced 40 years old and above category, which was contested in the round-robin format, Brunei-Muara pocketed the gold while Temburong came in second followed by Tutong in third.

Present as the guest of honour to give away the prizes was Datin Paduka Dayang Apsah Hj Abd Majid, the permanent secretary at the MoE.

The Brunei Times