We’re used to seeing Malaysians excel in sports like badminton, squash, and diving, but little did we know that we had sportsmen and women who could perform well at this little known sport.
The Malaysian women and men’s team both bagged a gold and silver medal each at the Dodgeball World Championships which concluded on Saturday (22nd October).
The competition, which was held in Melbourne, Australia, saw the women’s team beating Canada 6-5 to snag the first gold medal for Malaysia. The men’s team also successfully defeated Canada for a place in the podium.
In a Facebook post, the Malaysia Association of Dodgeball (MAD) thanked everyone for their support, and vowed to bring home 2 gold medals next year.
They said:
“Thank you Malaysia. Thank you to everyone who supported us. Thank you to the players who showed relentlessness. Thank you Malaysian Association of Dodgeball (MAD) for bringing Malaysian dodgeball to where it is now. Thank you Australian Dodgeball Federation for hosting the most intense tournament yet. One Gold and One Silver…next year we’ll bring back double gold. Once again we did our best and we hope we did Our Malaysia Proud.”
The championships, which is governed under the World Dodgeball Federation (WDBF), saw teams from Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mexico, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Singapore, and the US participating in it. It is held annually and was first hosted by Malaysia (2012), followed by New Zealand (2013), Hong Kong (2014), and the US (2015).
In a short description, The Malay Mail explained that “the sport of dodgeball is played by pitting two teams of six players against each other, with the goal being the elimination of all the players on the other team by either hitting them with a ball or by catching a ball thrown by the other in full. A team gets a point for each time they fully eliminate the opposing team within a 40-minute duration for a standard match”.
The championships was also broadcasted live on YouTube.
We’re so proud of the teams, and we’ll proudly say, Malaysia Boleh!
To keep yourself up to date with the dodgeball scene in Malaysia, do remember to check out Malaysia Association of Dodgeball (MAD)’s official website and Facebook page.
Sources: The Malay Mail Online, Dodgeball Malaysia.
