Malaysia won the men’s World Dodgeball Championships gold medal for a record third time after beating Australia 10-5 at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, Canada yesterday (Monday morning Malaysian time).
The top-ranked men’s team from Malaysia won the competition in 2017 and 2018.
Malaysia finished second at the 2019 championships in Cancun, Mexico, after losing to Canada in the title match.
Most Malaysians wouldn’t even have known of a national dodgeball team representing – and winning – titles for the country.
Malaysia won their group with four victories and one tie, defeated Canada in the semifinals, and advanced to the championship game under the guidance of the competition’s male Most Valuable Player (MVP), Carlos Goonting.
It was a great moment for Malaysia, according to V. Radhakrishnan, head of the Malaysian Association of Dodgeball (MAD), given the victory came only days after the country celebrated its 65th Independence Day.
“We are very proud of our teams’ achievements as we faced some of the world’s best teams. The team will be rewarded accordingly. I also want to thank our coaches for their excellent work on preparing our team. Syabas!
“We are also very proud that a player from the men’s team, Carlos Goonting was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. I would like to thank The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS), National Sports Institute (NSI), Berjaya Corporation, Black Box and all other sponsors for their undivided support,” said Radhakrishnan in a statement today.
