Malaysian Arowanas crowned champions after beating Mighty Mannas in Netball Super League final

By Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports

Jurong East Sports Hall, Saturday, May 1, 2010 – The Malaysian Arowanas finished the season unbeaten when they beat the Mighty Mannas 49-44 to bring home their first Netball Super League title.

Having lost to the Malaysian Arowanas narrowly 46-47 in the round robin stage, the Mighty Mannas were all ready for sweet revenge. However, Malaysian Arowanas did not allow Mannas to break their winning streak.

In the first quarter, Arowanas settled down quickly and put up a tight defense against Mannas to take a quick 5-2 lead. However, good reading of the play by the defenders gave Mannas valuable interceptions to steal the lead at 10-9 entering into the second quarter.

The start of second quarter saw Mannas struggling to settle and they fell behind but they soon found their momentum and accurate passing helped them surge ahead to take a 17-12 lead. However, that was as large a lead that the Mannas would get.

Arowanas soon managed to read Mannas’ game-play, intercepting several balls to level the score 17-17. Furthermore, tight defense from Arowanas put a stop to Mannas’ flow to lead 21-19 at the half.

Trailing 19-21, Mannas continued to struggle in the third quarter. Mannas’ shooters could not shake off their sticky defenders and gifted Arowanas several turnovers and the lead at 32-24.

Slowing the pace of the game, Mannas executed a couple of patient plays to narrow the gap and enter into the fourth quarter six points behind at 31-37.

In the final quarter, Mannas tightened their defense to further narrow the scoreline to 40-36. However, some poor ball handling undid their good work, giving Arowanas a 43-36 lead – a good buffer in such a close game.

Mannas further tightened their man-to-man defense to chase the balls that they lost. However, time was running out and Arowanas held on for a 49-44 victory.

Arowanas’ captain Noor Atikah was happy for her team, saying, “I am very happy. We have fought very hard. Although I felt nervous (in the final minutes), I was confident that we would win.”

“Our game plan was to lead in the first quarter,” analysed Mannas’ coach Yeo Mee Hong. “We managed to do so. However, the lead was not large enough. Arowanas have tall shooters and a loose defense in the mid-court resulted in easy balls being sent to their shooters. On the other hand, Arowanas had good flow of the game too.”