Thrilling end to AND1 tourneyTuesday October 27, 2009 By NG WEI LOONPhotos by AZMAN GHANIFOREIGN students from Africa provided a pulsating finish in the opening final at the sixth edition of the AND1 Streetball Challenge at Berjaya Times Square on Sunday.
Although it was a slow start in the match that saw MTV and LA Heat battling for supremacy in the open non-Chinese section, it went down to the wire before MTV prevailed in the sudden-death free throw shootout.
LA Heat took more than three minutes in the six-minute encounter to break the deadlock and went ahead through Edet Ebime.
Top three: The winners of the beatbox contest (from second left) Koit, Liow and Lee with Yeoh (right) and Vibe Tha Rapper (left) after the prize presentation ceremony.
Ebine also slotted all the three points for the 3-3 draw after the regulatory period.
However, Victor Nwosu was the toast of the MTV side contributing all five points for the 5-4 win in the closely contested match. Even the first round of free throws saw all three players from each side taking the shots failed to produce the winners as the score was tied at 1-1.
And Nwosu stepped up to the challenge when the heat was on and earned the crucial point. The 19-year-old Nigerian rose to the occasion to chalk up the winning point in his first attempt during the sudden death decider.
MTV captain Michael D. Mtali admitted that it was a tough physical match with both teams engaging in robust confrontation to stamp their mark.
“It was a hard match and both teams were very cautious at the early stages of the match. We applied tight marking in our defensive strategy.
Reaching for the ball: Water Fish defeating DNA Black (in blue bibs) 4-1 in the men’s Under-23.
“But, we were confident of delivering as we had a solid team gelling well together throughout the challenge,” the 27-year-old from Tanzania said.
Meanwhile, former Nigerian junior cager Micheal Ogheneme thrilled the spectators with a series of slam dunk manoeuvres as the curtain raiser to the Milo In Search of Freestylists competition with 10 of the 12 qualifiers from the four legs held earlier turning up to vie for the top three positions.
The trio of Tan Soon Chern, Yap Tee Shen and Victor Zeidler Lim were the best three performers and secured the RM3,000 worth of AND1 products sponsorship each.
Tan, an 18-year-old pre-university student, said he had to juggle his training to prepare for the competition in between his studies.
“I am not very sharp today. As a result, I committed several errors in both the introduction round and the one-on-one challenge. I have been taking part in the freestyle competition over the past three seasons and I am delighted that I went all the way to accomplish a decent finish this year,” he added.
Having a ball: The young streetball followers in action.
It was also a nostalgic moment for the four previous winners in the freestyle competition as they walked down memory lane recalling fond memories of previous challenges.
The quartet were Nabil Ra’uf Harun, Mohd Ismadi Hamidi, Choong Wai Kit and Lam Wei Ken.
In addition, the spectators were treated to high quality In Search of Talent competitions comprising the MC and Beatbox competitions hosted by Vibe Tha Rapper.
For the head-on battle in the MC section, Nigerian Iliya Ibrahim edged local hopeful Ahmad Zaki Nawawi and walked away with the iPod shuffle 4G.
Despite not having the best preparation for the duel, the 21-year-old Iliya said he was in very relaxed mood to score a 2-1 win against a younger 17-year-old challenger.
“It was fun joining the event. It was a chance to display flair for music at a basketball competition. I had an excellent opening round. I was all pumped up when the crowd responded positively.
“I was surprised when they understood the lyrics and threw their support behind me,” he said.
Good turnout: More than 350 teams in action in six categories at the grand finals.
In the beatbox competition, national champion Shawn Lee took the top position ahead of Liow Yin Chen and Koit Ken Jee in second and third respectively.
The pint-sized Lee, who finished ninth at the world championship at Berlin in Germany in May, produced an impressive and powerful club-styled tempo.
The 18-year-old School of Audio Engineering student admitted that it was a competitive field with other worthy contenders in the fray.
“I have also been performing quite regularly. And it was a chance to gauge my strength against my peers,” Lee added.
Lee took home the iPod shuffle 4G while Liow settled for an iPod shuffle 2G. Koit received the Sony MP3 player.
The Star managing editor David Yeoh gave away the prizes to the winners in both of the side events hosted in conjunction with the challenge.
Milo sports marketing manager Ng Ping Loong was also present to witness the competitors in action.
More than 350 sides featured in six categories — boys’ Under-14, boys’ Under-16, boys’ Under-18, men’s Under-23, girls’ Under-18 and open (non-Chinese) — as the came down for the highly rated three-on-three basketball meet.
Three of the partners for the tournament sanctioned by the Malaysia Basketball Association (MABA) were Milo (official beverage), StarMetro (official media) and Fly Fm (official radio).
RESULTS
> BOYS’- Under-14 Final: Survival C bt DNA 5-1Third-Fourth: YN1 bt TCK 4-2
- Under-16Final: CSF bt DNA1 7-2Third-Fourth: Only Two bt KEM 4-2
- Under-18Final: Yoke Nam bt Skins 7-5Third-Fourth: Make Some Nois bt Fury T (B) 4-2
> GIRLS’
- Under-18 Final: Dynamic bt Potato 4-3Third-Fourth: Lucky EME Girls bt Limited 20-0
> MEN’S
- Under-23Final: Water Fish bt DNA Black 4-1Third-Fourth: Secret A bt Sky High 9-8
> OPEN
- Non-ChineseFinal: MTV bt LA Heat 5-4Third-Fourth: Highlander bt Lim Kok Wing 1-0
