FIRST LOSS!!!

Summary of the match against Harun Boys by Ferdinand :

" Hi Vanilla Stars,

Unfortunately the match didn't turned out as we planned it to be. Even 

though every player gave his best, it was not enough to bring home a 

victory. Haruna boys had 14 players whereas we started with 8 players 

where one got already injured after five minutes. This meant the rest 

of the players had to play through the remaining time and the stamina 

wasn't strong enough to turn the game around to our advantage and we 

lost finally 28:25.

Chinese New Year and its holiday season left his marks and it was clear 

that we will have a shortage of players for this match. Therefore I 

would like to say a big thank you to Seyed, (goalkeeper) , Nicholei and 

Inglewar, who helped us to fill our ranks on a short notice. 

Considering that Seyed never new and played handball before, Nicolei has

still many years as junior ahead and Inglewar wanted to be only our

substitute they did a great job. Also a special thanks to Roland who

arrived from a business trip this morning and came nearly straight from

the airport to the OCM building. Unfortunately he picked up an injury early

in the game, which sidelined him for the rest of the match. Roland, hope the

injury isn't so serious and I wish you all the best.

Harun boys got a better start and took a 3:0 lead as we still struggled 

the first few minutes in organizing ourselves. Roland than opened the 

scoring for us and we were able to equalize. Though we had our chances, 

but we didn't capitalize on them and therefore we were soon trailing a 

2 to 3 goal lead of Harun boys. Just before halftime we could shorten the

difference to one goal, but a few small unfocused moments let Harun 

boys took a 13:11 lead into halftime.

Again Harun boys got a better start into the second half and even had 

very quickly a five goal lead (16:11). With a team effort we fought 

back and could again catch up to a one goal difference (17:16), but now

the game took its toll and not much power was left in us for the last 15

 minutes of the match. Easy goals were scored now on both sides and 

Harun boys finally utilized on their advantage that they could change and

rest their players whereas we had to play most of the match without 

substitute. Nevertheless we put up a good fight with some good moves 

and nice goals even though we never played or trained before in this 

formation.

Scoreboard: Ferdi D.: 4, Romain: 13, Ferdi O.: 5, Roland, Gonzague and

Nicholei 1 each "

Blogger's note :

To Vanilla Stars :

• So sorry I wasn't able to make it for the game. Due to exams I'll be missing the next game as well.
  

• Just a note to say that based on results last year, both Kinta and KL Stars are very unlikely to drop any games ( apart from the occasion when they play against each other ) enroute to the finals.
  

• We'll want to make sure they lose their games when they play against us!!!

Vanilla Stars VS Pemuda

The arrival of Vanilla Stars in Wisma OCM caused quite a stir. Other teams had only heard that there would be a team made up of ‘foreigners’ participating in the League this year. It was made worse when they realized that the team had a local amongst them. This local was recognized by some as a member of team Kinta last year. Team Kinta incidentally took second place in the 2006 League.

The match started without much ceremony. Handshakes between both teams, greetings exchanged. As this was the first match Vanilla Stars were playing together, it took a few minutes for the players to click. The ball exchanged hands a few times, going up and down the court. Vanilla Star’s Right-half tried to draw first blood. Unfortunately his attempt from 9 meters clashed against the post with a resounding “clang”, drawing “ooohs” from the crowd.

A few minutes more and Vanilla Stars began to find their groove. In a short span of time it was 5-0 to Vanilla Stars. 10 minutes before half-time and Vanilla Stars were 10 – 6 up. Out of the blue there was a lapse in concentration. This allowed Pemuda to score on a number of hard shots from 8 meters. It wasn’t helped by bad passing from Vanilla Stars allowing Pemuda to capitalize on the turnovers. At least 3 goals were given to them on a silver platter resulting from fastbreaks. Half-time ended with Pemuda having the upper hand leading 11 – 10.

The match resumed with Pemuda being allowed to extend their lead to 13 -11. Vanilla Stars called for a much needed time-out. After the 1 minute break, Vanilla Stars started to play a better passing game. Goalkeeper from Vanilla Stars was kept busy. He even managed 2 pointblank saves snuffing out the danger that resulted from Pemuda’s fastbreak attempt. A change from 6-0 defense to 5 – 1 proved effective. Fluid passing and better placement of shots allowed Vanilla Stars to troop out the victors. Final score 22 – 16.

A special mention has to go out to the goalkeepers from both teams. Goalkeeper from Pemuda did a good job, making some excellent saves in the process. Unfortunately, his heroics weren’t enough to prevent defeat. Vanilla Stars did not have a goalkeeper initially and it was the cause of slight anxiety. One of the team members had to offer himself. We threw him into the deep end of the pool and he did really well on the first day of the job. I think Vanilla Stars just found their goalkeeper.

Blogger’s comments :

The match was slightly marred by verbal confrontations between certain players from both teams. This was a result of controversial calls ( or rather failure to call ) on the part of the referees. For those who had the opportunity to witness the match, it is to be noted that none of the Vanilla Stars were called for illegal defense.

VANILLA STARS!!!

THEY WEAR PINK!!!!!!

Top ( L-R ) : Thomas , Nicholas, Guilliame, Ferdinand, Gonzague

Bottom ( L-R ) : pyh, Remi, Romain, Ferdinand

The latest team to join the National Handball League. The Vanilla Stars are a team made up of ex-pats who want to play handball in Malaysia with a local face added in for extra spice. Team members come from different parts of the world i.e. Sweden, Germany, France, Argentina and… Malaysia.

Blogger’s comments :

The only people I met from team Kinta were Kamilee and Chan Seng. Didn’t get the chance to meet up with my old friends. Team Kinta played the first match of the day while we played the final match. Hope all of you are doing well. Looking forward to playing against you guys later in the League. Would be a good game don’t you think? =)

P.S.

It is a rare opportunity that we get a team consisting of players who come from traditional handball playing countries. France, Germany, Sweden etc are traditional handball powerhouses that feature prominently in international tournaments e.g. Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships. Most of the players from Vanilla Stars have played at a level higher than our Malaysian National League. All the players from Vanilla Stars have been exposed to a level of handball higher than the Malaysian National League. They (except for the local ) come from countries where our national players would not even make their youth teams.

One thing I have to point out about the Malaysians is that we do not have enough exposure. It is sad but true. There is not much point in watching World Championship games when we do not even know the basics of proper defense. Players in the World Championships are so good that the referees are there just to supervise the technicalities. World level players very, very seldom commit the fouls we see in our local scene. Thus, watching the World Championships wouldn’t give us a realistic glimpse of what to expect.

In our local scene, we still see players being hacked from behind. Shooting arms are pulled, fastbreaks are being chased down with opponents deliberately being tugged from behind etc. all these normally result in a 7 meter shot and punishment handed to the culprit. Not in Malaysia. Referees hesitate to blow the whistle!! Some claim that here in Malaysia, we play by Malaysian rules!!!! Huh???!!! And we are expected to deliver medals in international tournaments?!

What good is it if someone becomes the top scorer in the Malaysian League, yet 50% of the goals come from taking 4 steps or more? If the referee doesn’t spot it, the player won’t realize it. When we meet teams or referees that are more observant ( as in international matches ), our goal tally drops by half! Then we face a tougher defense than we are used to, the goal tally drops even further. What is left?

We now have the chance to observe a team like Vanilla Stars play. Wouldn’t it make sense to observe and learn as much as possible?

Don’t concentrate solely on beating the team of ‘foreigners’. We take what we know is correct, apply it to ourselves, and go out guns-ablazing. Wouldn’t that be true “ Malaysia Boleh” ?

MALAYSIAN NATIONAL HANDBALL LEAGUE 2007

Kejohanan Liga Bola Baling Kebangsaan 2007

The Malaysian National Handball League of 2007 has started. Matches began on the 11^th of February at Wisma OCM ( situated along Jalan Hang Jebat, next to MABA ).

The teams :

Men’s :

1. Kinta 2. UPSI 3. Kutho 4. Magnasoul 5. KL Star 6. Gombak 7. Cempaka 8. Harun Boy 9. Vanilla Stars 10. Pemuda

Women’s :

1. Libra 2. UKM 3. LION 4. UIA 5. Cempaka 6. Gombak 7. Kutho 8. Harun Girl 9. MSSMKL 10. UPSI

Match dates are :

25/02/07

18/03/07

15/04/07

22/04/07

13/05/07

27/05/07

10/06/07

24/06/07

01/07/07 – Semi-finals and Finals

* Recap of last year. KL Star emerged as champions with Kinta coming in second.