Ban Sin and Guga to lead Farmco’s challenge in the MPL
PETALING JAYA: Ooi Ban Sin may be old, but he’s still very much the heart and soul for Malaysia Pro League (MPL) outfit Farmco TouchUp.
The former national basketball captain, who turns 34 on Oct 29, is still fit as a fiddle and a nightmare to guard against.
Ban Sin showed he has lost none of his touches, especially from the three-point line, as he led Farmco to a 104-95 win over the national juniors in a scrimmage on Friday.
His partnership with veteran B. Guganeswaran, the former Westports Malaysia Dragons’ point guard, will certainly be the key for Farmco when the MPL tips off from Oct 13-29.
“I still keep myself fit,” said Ban Sin, whose last major tournament was the Asean Basketball League (ABL) with the Dragons in the 20142015 season.
“But as a team, I’d say we’re badly out of shape. We haven’t trained together at all.
“All the players in the team are based throughout the country. It’s hard trying to get everyone together for training.
“The lack of stamina will be our biggest problem as most of the players are quite old.
“We have some young players, but there is quite a gap between them and the older guys. It’s tricky trying to get them to blend into the system without any training.
“But we’re going into the MPL bent on being competitive. We always play to win and we’ll only get better with each game.”
Farmco, formed in 2007, are one of the oldest teams in the competition.
They were champions of the now-defunct Malaysian National Basketball League (MNBL) in 2012 and were runners-up in 2013.
Apart from Ban Sin and Guganeswaran, they will also be banking on national team forward Wong Chin Yong. Farmco have also reinforced their squad with two imports – Cameroonian Chris Kuete and 2.26m Maltese giant Samuel Deguara.
The 26-year-old Deguara, who is the fourth tallest basketball player in the world, is certainly a valuable addition. He won the Best Centre award at the Thailand Basketball League (TBL) while playing for PEA earlier this year.