Good start for Sabah boys and girls in team events

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah got off to a flying start at the opening day of the 31st Milo Malaysia Hopes Table Tennis Championships here, yesterday.

Positive performances in the team event put the host team through to the quarterfinals in the boys’ and girls’ categories of both the under-13 and under10 events.

Joshua Chin, Muhammad Izzuddin Sainin, Edrian Yap and Cyprian Yap did well to notch 3-0 wins over Group B rivals Perak and Labuan in the boys’ under-13 category.

They lost 3-0 to Sarawak in the earlier match but resilience in the late game with Labuan saw them go through to the next stage where they will face defending champions Kuala Lumpur in today’s fixtures. Also through from Group B are Sarawak.

Joining Kuala Lumpur in the quarterfinals from Group A are Johor, while Penang and Selangor qualify from Group C along with Putrajaya and Kedah from Group D.

The girlss under-13 squad also produced good performances as Sabah trumped Melaka and Pahang to make it through as winners from Group Q. They face Negeri Sembilan after the latter came through with wins over Kedah, Johor and Sarawak in Group S. Also through are Melaka from Group Q and Sarawak from Group S.

Other teams to feature in the girls’ under-13 quarterfinals are Selangor and Penang from Group P as well as Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur from Group R.

In the boys’ under-10, Sabah beat Pahang, Perlis and Perak to make it through from Group G. They face Johor who are through from Group E. Perlis are also through from Group G and Melaka from Group E.

Other teams that made it through are Selangor and Sarawak from Group F as well as Penang and Kuala Lumpur from Group H.

In the girls’ under-10 category, Sabah lost to Negeri Sembilan before beating Kedah in Group W. They join Negeri Sembilan in today’s action against Kuala Lumpur who are through with Selangor from Group X.

Also through are Penang and Perlis from Group Y as well as Putrajaya and Melaka from Group Z.

The 31st edition of the annual national championships will continue with the individual events on Saturday before the finals on Sunday.

Sabah’s u13 players (2nd left to right) Joshua, Muhammad Izzuddin, Edrian and Cyprian with their coach Alan Au.

Sabah’s Azza Nuryati Mohamad Noh in action against Kedah in the Girl’s U10 team event. Also in the picture is Sabah coach Ho Lin Na (right).

Negeri Sembilan players take pointers from their coach in the Group S match with Sarawak.