USJ 11/3 Basketball team shines at USJRA

The USJ 11/3 team which won the under-15 basketball event. (From left) Ivan Yeap, Ng Kok Weng and Owi Ken Ming.


Having a ball at USJRA-NST Streets Family Day
The Streets Team

SUBANG JAYA: There were laughter, running, jumping and of course, lots of sweat during the inaugural USJRA-NST Streets Family Day futsal and basketball challenge.


Players from 48 teams warming up for the three-on-three basketball challenge.


Nineteen teams from USJ competed in the futsal under-18 and under-15 categories.


The USJ 11/3 team which won the under-18 basketball event. (From left) Tung Xing Zhong, Kuek Yuen Sam and Alex Au Yong Jun-hao.

Held at the MPSJ field, the event saw over 60 teams participating in the futsal under-18, futsal under-15, basketball under-18 and under-15 events.

Youths in jerseys of yellow, orange, blue and green pitted their skills against each other on the futsal turf, while on the other side of the track, groups of three were battling it out at the basketball challenge.

The event kicked off at 10am and ended at 5pm, with 19 teams competing in the futsal category, while 48 teams took part in the 3-On-3 basketball challenge.

There were a lot of cheers when Black Mamba, the under-18 futsal team, emerged victorious with a I-0 win over rival Sarjana Kalumpang. Seafield Plus came out third.

Black Mamba captain Muhd Fadzlie Rosalie, 17, said it was sheer determination and a bit of luck that got them through to the final.

"It was an exciting final. We got lucky in the last few minutes as T. Surain Raaj scored the wining goal. He was assisted by Nazmi Ahmad Fadzil. The minute the ball hit the back of the net, it was game over for Sarjana Kalumpang," he said.

Meanwhile, in the under-15 futsal tournament, SJYC Orange beat SJYC Blue to emerge champion. Third place went to Las Caupe.

SJYC Orange captain Abdul Muhaimin Tuan Hassan, 14, said that SJYC Blue was a tough team to play against, but it was their strategy that won the game.

"They were fast and strong, but we had our strategy planned out from the start. That was how we won," he said.

Teammate Daniel Othman, 15, said he had a great time at the event. "It was so much fun coming out here today. We got to meet a lot of friends and participate in a huge event like this," he said.

The highlight of the day was the celebrity futsal match that saw the New Straits Times, ntv7, MPSJ and FlyFm teams pit their skills against one another in an elimination match.

New Straits Times was the first to exit the celebrity game after losing 1-0 to MPSJ. In the second round, FlyFm drew with ntv7. They teamed up and went on to play MPSJ in the final.

The final got off to a good start, but it was clear that MPSJ dominated the game. They were skillful and had more possession of the ball. But that did not stop FlyFm and ntv7 from scoring two goals.

Within minutes MPSJ was back in the game by levelling the score.

However, in the last few seconds, MPSJ scored the winning goal with much flair. The game ended 3-2.

Flyfm announcer Prem Shanker said the MPSJ team was skilful. "Those guys had a lot more skills than us. The first goal they scored was done with much style," he said.

Prem said he and the FlyFm team had a ball of a time and was looking forward to more Streets event. "This is a fantastic event. The best part was that we got to meet and mingle with the USJ community," he said.

Over at the 3-On-3 basketball challenge, 48 teams fought hard for a place in the final. USJ 11/3 won first place in the under-15 boys category, followed by SJBA 2 in second place and USJ 12Y in third.

USJ 11/3 captain Ivan Yeap Chen Yuan, 15, said the basketball event was a good way of fostering ties in the community.

"It was an exciting final and teamwork was the key to our success," he said.

Yeap said that despite the hot weather, they had great fun.

"We were surprised to win as we had very little practice. The first few games were easy, but as we progressed to the final, the games got tougher. It was our skills on the courts that won the game," he said.

Over at the under-18 boys basketball challenge, team USJ 11/3 was the victor, followed by USJ 3B in second place and SJB A in third.

Team USJ 11/3 captain Kuek Yuen Sam, 18, said USJ B was a tough team to play against. "They were good and had skills, but by playing more defensively and counter attacking, we managed to beat them," he said.

Meanwhile, in the under-18 women's basketball challenge, team 3 Blind Mice won first place, followed by USJ 11/3 and USJC 12 A in second and third place respectively .

3 Blind Mice captain Cherish Moy Su-Grace, 16, said her team never expected to be champion.

"We were really surprised to win first place. There were so many other better teams," she said.