Quarterfinal spots up for grabs
KUCHING: J&J5 and Tee Off Club will be looking to confirm their places in the quarterfinals of the ongoing KGS- OBYU Team Match Play Championship when they play their final group matches today.
Both have collected six points from two wins after two matches and any defeats today may spell trouble for them to advance to the next round.
Group A leader J& J5, who have beaten Harmoni 4-1 in their opener on Feb 24 and Titans 4-1 last Sunday, will take on thirdplaced HGA who have three points from one win and one loss after two games. The other match will be between KGS Junior Team and Tee Off Club in Group B.
Tee Off Club are leading Group B with six points after edging Hojipala 3-2 on March 2 and beating DGA Kaban 4-1 on March 10.
All quarterfinal matches will be played tomorrow at the Matang and Santubong Nines.
Meanwhile, four teams are already in the quarterfinals after completing their group matches last Sunday.
They are defending champion Maf ia Hukum who finished runners- up in Group D, Cahya Mata who finished second in Group C, Group D winners HKH and Group C winners Blue Lobsters 3.0.
K PGA comprising South Korean players are in a positive mood although they are already out of contention for the top honours after losing all their three matches in Group C.
They lost 0.5- 4.5 to Hanking Warriors in their first match and their poor run in the competition continued when they were beaten 3-2 by Blue Lobsters 3.0 and 3-2 by Cahya Mata.
The South Koreans first joined the competition as KOREA Team and from 2016 to 2019 they renamed themselves as KPGA.
KPGA captain Kim Hyeong Geon said the main aim of competing in this KGS annual team event was not to win but to further strengthen the bonds between the South Koreans and local players.
“We accept whatever result in this competition and I am pleased with my team’s performance this year because we were able to provide a stiff competition to Blue Lobsters 3.0 and Cahya Mata. We lost only by one point,” he noted.
“This is a very good competition because we are able to enhance our friendship with the other players and all players display good sportsmanship by adhering to fair play,’ added Kim.
The semi-finals will be played on March 30 while the third/fourth placings play- offs and final will be played on April 14.