PETALING JAYA: It was double celebration for the Malaysian men’s and women’s teams at the World Dodgeball Championships in Toronto, Canada yesterday.
The men’s and women’s teams were part of 12 nations that took part in the event that was first staged by Malaysia in 2012.
Being the 2016 world champions, the Malaysian women’s team endured a test of character as they fought their way to the gold medal final at the Markham Pan Am Center yesterday.
They finished fourth in a group that comprised USA, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico and Italy.
“I am extremely proud that the girls have successfully defended the world title,” said Malaysia women’s team captain, Janelle Chong Hwei Xian.
“After one year of preparations, my teammates and I are proud that our hard work has paid off.”
The women’s team started their campaign with a dominant performance against Hong Kong which they won 10-2 on Wednesday. They followed that victory with another over Mexico (11-2) before losing their third match to the United States USA (10-2).
They bounced back the next day by defeating team Maple Leaf (8-5) and Italy (11-3), but suffered defeats to Canada (8-7) and Australia (8-5).
Nevertheless, the Malaysian women dug deep in the semi-final playoffs by narrowly defeating USA 7-6. In the final, they avenged their earlier defeat to Australia by winning 7-5.
In the men’s championship, 2016 silver medallist Malaysia topped the table in dominant fashion as they were undefeated in all their matches.
They defeated Maple Leaf 7-6 to kickstart their campaign. The Malaysians were in dominant form in their second match as they thrashed Italy 11-1 while labouring to a 6-5 win over Australia. They swept aside Mexico 9-1 and were unrelenting against Hong Kong with a 11-3 victory.
The Malaysian men then broke Canadian hearts when they continued their ruthless march towards gold with a commanding victory over host nation Canada, winning the match 10-4.
Malaysia’s toughest test came against the USA, managing an 8-5 victory before beating a stubborn Australian side in the semi-finals, 7-5.
In the final, the Malaysian team fought gallantly to defeat Canada 8-6 to finally land the world title that had eluded them for the past two years.
“I’m speechless, too excited,” said men's team captain Robert Ng Chee Keong, 27.
“We've worked very hard, overcome so many obstacles, taken time off our lives to be champions. We’re proud to win this for Malaysia.”
The world championship triumphs make Malaysia the number one nation in dodgeball and only the second country in the competition’s six-year history to win both titles in the same year. The United States achieved the feat in 2015.