Sukma: Sarawak softball teams chances for semis slim

MIRI (Aug 16): The Sarawak men and women’s Malaysia games (Sukma) XXI softball team’s chances of advancing to the semi-finals are seen as slim after both lost in the second Group Round match against their respective opponents today.

The match that started at 2pm saw the Sarawak men’s softball team lose 11-3 to Selangor, while the Sarawak women’s softball team lost 15-8 to Sabah.

Sarawak men’s softball team head coach Aaron Abel Donald said he was very disappointed with the performance of his men because it was only on the second day that it was known that the chances of advancing to the semi-finals were slim.

“Selangor lost against Terengganu yesterday, we also lost against Johor yesterday. Johor now with one loss and one win, and Selangor also one loss and one win, while Terengganu won both matches.

“Actually, now I think our team is at the bottom with these two losses,” he said when interviewed by reporters after the second match this afternoon.

The Sarawak men’s softball team will face Terengganu in the third round of Group A at 10 am at IKBN Miri tomorrow.

Touching on the second match, Aaron said his men started very strongly in the first and second innings, but started to be chased by the opposing team in the third and fourth innings, causing Sarawak to lose.

Commenting on the preparations against Terengganu for their third match, he admitted that Terengganu is seen as a strong team.

“Therefore, I hope our players will play smart to overcome Terengganu’s team tomorrow.

“However, we will continue this fight until the end and have not given up yet,” he said.

Meanwhile, tomorrow the Sarawak women’s softball team will meet Pahang in the third round of Group D at 8am at SMK Merbau.