Groups And Clubs

RECAp for First Day CDL 2010!

by Rashydi Mohd Zulkifli

Group A consists of the  HELP Hyperblades, SEGi Barbarians KDU Chronos and the Sunway Pharaohs. The SEGi Barbarians are one of the oldest dodgeball clubs and have players who have been playing for two years since the introduction of dodgeball in Malaysia. Undoubtedly, there will be a lot of pressure for the Barbarians to perform well and live up to their standings as reigning champions. They may have lost a few of the star players which made up the all conquering team from the previous Campus Dodgeball League and The Star Rage Tournament, but have absorbed some players from the SEGi Avengers and SEGi Invaders which had participated in the last CDL and can still be considered a strong team. We can be sure that the Barbarians will be doing their best to retain the title that they worked hard to win last CDL.

The Hyperblades are a highly skilled team, consisting of many strong players like Vinod Menon, VK and Jun Kit, and they have had tons of match experience from joining countless tournaments as the Hyperblades and as members of United College (UC) dodgeball team. The Hyperblades are expected to put up a good fight and their match against the Barbarians is anticipated to be one of the highlights of the opening day of matches, as they have beaten the Barbarians in the MAPCU 2010 tournament. Meanwhile, the KDU Chronos are the junior team from KDU, and they are sure to be a formidable opponent. Having had experience in joining tournaments such as the Taylor’s Open Day, the Chronos team will be looking to use their experience and knowledge of their opponent’s players to their advantage. They have also been said to have been undergoing some secret intensive training, which might explain their absence from recent tournaments such as the recently held Jackpot Madness on the 18th of September.

Similarly to the KDU Chronos, the Sunway Pharaohs are also relatively new team, but have had experience in joining tournaments such as the MAPCU tournament at Taylor’s Lakeside, and will be considered as one of the underdogs of this group. Nevertheless, they might just be able to spring an upset against their more fancied opponents. The matches that will be highly anticipated and promises to be exciting are between the SEGi Barbarians and HELP Hyperblades, and also the battle of the newbies between KDU Chronos and Sunway Pharaohs.

Group B contains Taylor’s Lakeside Storm, UCSI Red Legion, Inti Hybrids and Politeknik Shah Alam Eagles. The Lakeside Storm is a relatively new club, having been set up when the Taylor’s Lakeside campus commenced operations towards the end of 2009, but the team contains maybe of the players from last year’s runner ups, the Hyenas X. Has many highly capable players such as Jerrard, Frederick and also strong female players such as Roxanne. This team is aggressive, has strong teamwork and has great emphasis on communication, and is considered one of the top guns in Group B.

Also in the group is Red Legion, the UCSI second team, considered one of the hardest working teams in terms of training. They are champions of the recently held Jackpot Madness 4. Red Legion also has many experienced and highly skilled players from the previous CDL, such as Benji. They train together with the UCSI Devil’s Dukes, which have won many big tournaments.

Inti Hybrids are also quite new, but has a lot of outstanding players Kesavan, Mun Wai, Paul, Khor Chew Lian, Ismael. The founder of the Inti Hybrids is Kesavan, who is an MAD coach and has been playing dodgeball with Taylor’s Hyenas before he transferred colleges to Inti and set up the team there. The hybrids are very experienced,  has taken part in many tournaments and placed very well in many of them, such as MAPCU, Hari Belia, Figos Cup. This team is one of the most aggressive and is a force to be reckoned with, and is also considered to be one of the favourites to progress to the finals of CDL.

The final team in Group B is Politeknik Shah Alam. They are a new team, but are coached by Ikhwan, MAD coach and highly experienced player from KDU, and will be sure to show their skills and potential to the other teams. They are sure to prove that they are not a team to be taken lightly. Little is known about their players, and they might just be able to put up a good fight and maybe even beat some of the more experienced teams. They also be playing on home ground, and will be sure to perform well with the support from local crowds. The matches to look out for will be between Lakeside Storm and Inti Hybrids, Lakeside Storm and Red Legion, and Inti Hybrids against Red Legion.

Group C, The City UC Tigers are experienced, having played in CDL before as Unity College Tigers before their college changed name and status to City UC. Not much is known about their current team, having dropped off the radar after the last CDL, but we can be assured that they are back with a vengeance and to prove their worth.

In this group is also the KDU Ronins. This team is also a very experienced team, having competed in the last CDL and actively participated in other tournaments. The KDU Ronins are also highly experienced, and is one of the clubs with a very high number of players, which led to the setting up of their second team, the KDU Chronos.

The SEGi Avengers are also an experienced team, having participated in the past CDL and has retained many of their players while also having an injection of fresh blood. They are hard working and will be one underdogs of Group C, but will put up and fight and do their best to beat the more decorated teams in the group.

The UCSI Devil’s Dukes are one of the strongest teams at the moment, having won numerous competitions such as Figos Cup and placed well in all the tournaments they join. They are also the only team to have beaten the SEGi Barbarians in the last Campus Dodgeball League. There will be surely a lot of pressure on them to perform and live up to their billing as one of the favourites of CDL. They will count on their star players such as Navid, Casey, Sina, and Foo Kee Chai to withstand this pressure and perform. For this group, the matches that are highly anticipated are between the KDU Ronins and UCSI Devil’s Dukes, Avengers against the City UC Tigers, and Avengers versus Devil’s Dukes.

Group D, The Metropolitan Meastro is also one of the returning teams from the previous Campus Dodgeball League, and have been training hard with the Inti Hybrids. A few of their players have been chosen as MVPs from the previous CDL and will be one of the teams to look out for in this edition of the Campus Dodgeball League.

The Taylor’s Hyenas are one of the strongest teams in the last Campus Dodgeball League, with their teams getting second and third place. They are also one of the teams to boast international match experience along with the SEGi Barbarians, having taken part in a friendly match with the Hong Kong Dodgeball League All Stars team. The current CDL will prove to be tougher for them as some of their players have continued their studies overseas, but they have managed to retain the services of some of their star players such as Lee Jun Hsien, Karishan, Wong Hui Xian and Pua Sze.

UPM Tupai Kilat is a new team, but they boast of many players with high potential, having previously hosted 2 tournaments, with one of the tournaments a closed tournament between the UPM players with 12 teams took part. From such a large number of players to choose from, we are to be sure that the players chosen to represent UPM Tupai Kilat are of the highest quality, and the team will be considered a dark horse for this competition.

The last team in Group D is the Masterskill Vipers. Although they did not participate in the last Campus Dodgeball League, many of their members have been actively working with MAD for a long time and the Vipers have also taken part in many tournaments too. This team has many strong players such as Danz Danson and Eddly Adrian Arbah and also many new promising players. They are also said to be hard working and has been actively training and are expected to give a good performance in their debut into the CDL. The match ups that are promising to be an explosive and entertaining affair are between the Taylor’s Hyenas and Masterskill Vipers, and the Maestro against UPM Tupai Kilat.