Season's Greeting

To My Business Associates, Friends & Families
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2006

May God Bless You All with Good Health and Prosperity for the years ahead.

It has been approximately 2 months since my last post, during this period, we have celebrated Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Christmas and now New Year is just around the corner, and the visitors to my Webblog have surpass 1,000 !! thanks for the support.

Softball for me is at the lowest point at the moment due to all the year end activities, and also have been quite busy at work, our unfinish league will resume from mid January 2006 depending on field availability, and after Chinese New Year, Softball activities should be back into action, 1 thing we definitely need is more support and commitment from the Miri Softballers.

My apology also to our Brunei friends for not being able to participate in your Ladies tourney on 18th of December.

Cheers....

Check It Out !!

Check these cool Brunei's softball websites out, they were launched recently and both look great with lots of information and pictures, I was most impressed by the layout and design of Gunners' website, with flash animation and music.

Gunners Softball Club

Zombies Softball Club

Well done guys !!!

You know you're a softball junkie if...

You need a second job (or your parents do) just to pay for gloves, bats, equipment, uniforms, player fees, batting cages, etc...

Your second job is umpiring at softball games.

Your idea of spending quality time with your spouse is playing on the same co-ed team.

You have more than one bat that cost over $200.

You go to the softball fields on nights your team isn't even playing.

You used to rest and relax on the weekends, now the only rest you get is between games at a tournament.

You think "wearing something nice" means an all-tournament shirt with no dirt stains.

When someone says they are going out of town this weekend you ask if there is a tournament there.

All your white socks have dirt stains from playing softball.

Your idea of a weekend getaway is a two-day tournament in (insert town name).

You have a tattoo that says softball forever.

You plan your summer vacation each year around the state softball tournament.

You own more softball t-shirts than pairs of underwear.

Your girlfriend / boyfriend knows when you ask them out to dinner you really mean pizza after the game.

You tape your bat handles with various designs and use only tape with team colors.

You have a softball website.

Selamat Berpuasa

To My Muslim Friends and Relatives

May the divine blessings of ALLAH....

fill your life with Peace and Happiness

Miri Fast Pitch League 2005 - Update

25th September, 2005

Result

3:00 PM Sunset Batters (H) Vs Stealers, 12 - 16

4:00 PM Stealers (H) Vs Critters, 5 - 6

Scoreboard

TEAMS	PLAY	WIN	DRAW	LOSE	FORFEIT	FOR	AGAINST	POINTS
Sunset Batters	2	1	0	1	0	31	19	4
Stealers	2	1	0	1	0	21	18	4
Critters	2	1	0	1	0	9	24	4

Wolf have confirmed their withdrawal from the league, The league will be deferred for the coming Fasting month and Raya, depending on field availability, will resume on mid november.

More actions from yesterday's friendlies

Today's friendly matches with Knights from Kuala Belait

Oilers and Knights
Syed Zul receiving souvenir From Musrafi (Sunset Batters and Knights)
Me receiving souvenir from Musrafi

The weather was perfect this afternoon, and we were at the center of attraction today at Miri City Council field, must have had over thousands of spectators watching us playing between 2pm to 6pm, though 99% were just passing by in their vehicles, haha. :-)
Hopefully, with more events like this and the ongoing Miri fast Pitch League, Softball will become a more popular sport in Miri City. Incidentally, an expat approached me to enquire about his interest in joining, and he was promptly recruited by Syed for sunset Batters, we have yet to settle on the introducing fees. ;-)
Yes ! we all had good fun playing against Knights today, and we made more new friends from Kaula Belait. Special thanks to Musrafi and his team-mates, we are also hoping to go to KB to have friendly match with you guys in the near future.

Result are as follows :

1. Oilers Vs Knights, 6 - 9
2. Sunset Batters Vs Knights, 5 - 1

Friendly matches on this sunday

Knights Softball Team of Kuala Belait will be coming down to Miri this sunday (18th September) for friendly matches against Miri's team.

 

Venue : Miri City Council's Field

 

1st match at 2 pm vs Oilers

2nd match at 4 pm vs Sunset Batters

Banzai - Reloaded

Courtesy of Rosdimar, No. 77

Wizards

Courtesy of Rudy, No. 32, we met thru my website

Final Hightlights - Zombies Vs Black Arrows

Team Zombies - The Champ !

Zombies in jubilant mood after completing 7 innings
Pre match briefing and greeting

Umpires for the final, From Left to Right- Plate Um, 1st Base Um (Max of Oilers), 2nd Base Um, 3rd base Um. Please share with us their names and from which team please ?

Miri Oilers Highlights

Gunners Softball Carnival - Scoreboard

Final Zombies Vs Black Arrowss 6-0 3rd Placing Gunners Vs Wanderers 3-2

Semi Final Gunners Vs Zombies 2-4 Black Arrows Vs Wanderers 9-2

Quarter Final Wanderers Vs Banzai 4-1 Gunners Vs Sluggers 17-1 Black ArrowsVs Knights 5-2 Oilers Vs Zombies  2-6

Group A Sluggers Vs Redskins 6-1 Wanderers Vs SAS 25-1 SAS Vs Oilers 0-28 Sluggers Vs Wanderers 1-12 Wanderers Vs Oilers 7-5 Redskins Vs SAS 11-0 Redskins Vs Wanderers 5-7 Redskins Vs Oilers 2-13 Sluggers Vs SAS 5-1 Sluggers Vs Oilers 5-3   Group B Wizards Vs Knights 0-11 Zombies Vs JAG 22-0 JAG Vs Black Arrows 0-5 Wizards Vs Zombies  0-11 Knights Vs JAG 20-1 Zombies Vs Black Arrow 1-2 Wizards Vs JAG 1-6 Knights Vs Black Arrows 1-2 Knights Vs Zombies 4-7 Wizards Vs Black Arrow 0-10   Group C Gunners Vs Banzai 4-0 Empire Vs Raiders 6-3 Banzai Vs Empire 6-1 Gunners Vs Empire 15-0 Banzai Vs Raiders 10-0 Gunners Vs Raiders 16-0

 

Black Arrow Hightlights

Black Arrow Team Photo
The lady in the middle is Rosnani, finally had the chance to meet her in person after all those emails, her hubby 'Zul' is another superb pitcher

Gunners Highlights

Err.... Musa, this is not the right time to pose for camera, watch for the bunt !!
Gunners warming up before semi match against Zombies

Wan Tambrin in action
Pg. Musa Hit a homerun over the fence against Banzai, throughout the tournament, there were only 2-3 homerun scored to my knowledge.

Black Arrows fail to bring down rampaging Zombies

By Alex How - Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

The Zombies whitewashed the Black Arrows 6-0 to win the Gunners Softball Carnival final at the Menglait Sports Complex yesterday.
The Zombies booked their place in the final after they beat Gunners 4-2 in the morning semifinal, while Black Arrows ousted Wanderers 9-2 in the other semifinal encounter.
By winning the Gunners Softball Carnival title, the Zombies walked $500 home richer, courtesy of the cash prize that went with the championship trophy. Runners-up Black Arrows won themselves $300, while third-placed the Gunners won $200.
14 teams took part in the 3-day championship; the final yesterday was attended by a huge crowd who flocked to watch the two title contenders do battle.
Presenting prizes to all the winners was the Special Duties Officer at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Sumadi Sukaimi. Also present at the final yesterday was the president of the Brunei Darussalam Amateur Softball and Baseball Association, Pehin Dato Major-Gen (rtd) Hj Jaafar bin Hj Abd Aziz.

B A N Z A I ! ! !

Oilers & Banzai making a joint declaration to meet in the final !

Banzai Softball Team

Miri Oilers Team Photo No. 2
Front Row : Me, Peter Lim, Lo Vui Shean, Ng Kok Yong, Max Yong, Veren Chua
Back Row : Alex Su, John Chin, Kevin Chung, Edward Lim, Peter Kuan, Yong Yuk Ming, C Y Lai, Gilbert Thien, Chu Chat San, Soloman Lian Henry
Special Thanks to MAA Assurance for the jerseys
Posted by Picasa

Miri Oilers Team Photo No. 1
Special Thanks to Diamond Life Enterprise for the jerseys and Siong Fah Motors for the caps
Posted by Picasa

Gunners Softball Carnival 2005 - Update

FANTASTIC & AWESOME ! ! !
These are the 2 words I can find in my dictionary to describe the experience we had for the past 4 days in The Beautiful and Majestic Brunei Darussalam, some of my players even had the chance to shake hand with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at the Mall ! what more can we ask for ?
We arrived at approximately 10 pm at the Berakas Sports Village on thursday night, the Chairman of Gunners Softball Club, Major Wan Mohd Tambrin Shah and Arifin were there to make sure our accomodations are in order, the only problem we had was the washroom is 3 miles away !! ( that was a good one, Wan J ) thereafter, we proceeded to The Chairman's house for a delicious dinner and given a tour of the opulent setting of his house in preparation for his sister's wedding ceremony the following day.
Friday morning, we arrived at the Menglait Field early, our first impression was exactly like how Kevin descibed it, 'Shell Shocked', I was saying to myself, ' Goosshhhh..... how does a nation without softball activities for 8 years suddenly come out with so many teams ?', and all of them looking like professionals with beautiful jerseys and pants with the exception of St Andrews School, majority are good fielders and batters, almost all teams have an average of 2-3 good pitchers, the best pitchers are in Zombies, Gunners, Black Arrow, Banzai & Wanderers.
The 1st Match against SAS was an easy cruise for us, we scored 28 - 0. Our 2nd match on friday was against Wanderers, we loss by 5 - 7, when it was our turn to bat at the bottom of 3rd innings, we were so confident we could beat them, we were truly shocked when the umpire declared time and game, all these while we chose to take the field 1st as we thought the inning should be played to completion when time is called, as there was no printed local rules given to us and all clarifications were done verbally, I guess there were some serious miscommunication between me and the Chief Umpire, but we learnt our lesson well and took batting 1st from then on. Our 3rd match against Redskins was a smooth ride, we played the game under drizzling rain and the final score is 13-2. We loss our 4th match against Sluggers by 3-5 for reasons to be known only by our team members. Our quarter final match on sunday morning was against Zombies, who eventually rise up to be the tournament Champion, we loss to them by 2-6. Overall, I have to commend on my players for their excellent performance and endurance throughout the whole tournament, I'm so proud of you guys, give yourselves a good pat on the back for a great job well done !!!
On behalf of Miri OILERS, we wish to thank the Chairman Wan Mohd Tambrin Shah, Arifin, Pg. Musa, Hadi and rest of the committee members and softballers, who we came to know by sight but not names, Thank You very much for the hospitality and support provided to us during the duration of our stay in Brunei. We are looking foward to meeting you again, if there's any unpleasant feelings caused by us during the tournament, please accept our sincere apology, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Assalaamu' Alaikum.


p/s : detail scores and pictures will follow pretty soon, stay tuned !!

Gunners Softball Carnival - Update

I'm still busy writing my thoughts on the whole event, so stay tuned guys and gals, rest assured you won't be dissapointed. I've taken over 100+ pictures during the tournament and will be posting them asap.
At the meantime, check out the secret weapon of Brunei, We call him 'The Cool Guy', he's the 1st Pitcher of Zombies. tell me his name please !?

Brunei Gunner's Softball carnival 2005

The Gunners Softball Club of Brunei is organising a softball tournament on 2nd, 3rd and 4th of September, at Mengalait Sports Centre. There will be 14 men teams participating:-

GROUP A - Sluggers, Redskins, Wanderers, St Andrews, Oilers ( my team )
GROUP B - Wizards, Knights, Zombies, JAG, Black Arrow
GROUP C - Gunners, Banzai, Empire, Raiders

This is possibly the first largest gathering of men's softball teams in Borneo as far as I can recall, We are definitely going to enjoy this memorable event, I believe Miri Oilers is the only foreign team in this tournament, are there any teams coming from Philippine, Thailand, Singapore or West Malaysia ? please keep me inform as I'll continue to post news update as soon as I have the time.

Cheers!

Miri Fast Pitch League 2005 - Standings

 

 

TEAMS	PLAY	WIN	DRAW	LOSE	FORFEIT	FOR	AGAINST	POINTS
Sunset Batters	1	1	0	0	0	19	3	3
Stealers	1	1	0	0	0	7	0	3
Critters	1	0	0	1	0	3	19	1
Wolf	1	0	0	0	1	0	7	0

 

 

Softballers UNITE! Appeal to IOC to re-instate Softball

Hi everyone,

You might have heard that the IOC has announced dropping fast pitch softball from the Olympics after the Beijing Games. There is a worldwide petition going on to appeal to the governing body to re-instate the game, and we as softball fans can do our part by being a part of the petition. Please take a moment to support this cause by clicking on the link below and entering your name in the petition.

Let's save softball!!!

Thanks!

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/olysoftb/petition.html

Rodney of KSC

Gunners aim for softball revival - by Alex How

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Gunners Softball Club are aiming for a comeback in a bid to revive the popularity of softball which had its heyday in the early 1980's in the Sultanate.

Their first mission is to conquer the Club Shell Lutong Fastpitch Softball Carnival 2005, which will be held at the Shell Recreation Lutong field, Miri, Sarawak from June 25-26.

The club, which began their training two months ago, are sending an experienced, strong squad of 18 players to the championship. The Gunners will play against Wolf in game one, followed by Sunset Batters and St Jo this Saturday in their attempt to qualify for the semifinal and final on Sunday.

The Gunners were given a shot in the arm when the club secured the sponsorship of club jerseys from MVision Cinemas and Silverseal. A handover ceremony was held at the Empire Cinema last Wednesday.

Receiving the jerseys on behalf of the Gunners was the club captain Wan Mohd Thambrin Shah bin Hj Suhali, while Managing Director of MVision Pg Hj Mohd Noor Arifin and Managing Director of Silverseal Md Hj Sahbaruddin Pehin Hj Jaya represented their respective companies.

The captain thanked the sponsors and expressed his gratefulness for their support and that of the Youth and Sports Department and the Brunei Amateur Baseball and Softball Association.

Present to witness the ceremony were the guests of honour, Youth and Sports Assistant Chief Officer Mariam Ulat, Brunei Amateur Baseball and Softball Association Secretary General Pg Hj Jambol Pg Hj Sulaiman, Brunei baseball coach Mr Do Hyung Kim and Nur Iffah Natasha Sofea Abdullah @ Adelyn Prudente of Youth and Sports Department.

The club, formally known Young Gunners, were established in 1981. The Gunners were the last team that other teams would want to face at that time. The club performed well across the region and even finished fourth in the Chulalangkon Championship in Bangkok, Thailand in 1988.

The club earned fame when they conquered the Singapore International Open in 1994 and finished in second place the following year.

Most of the club's players were selected to represent Brunei in SEA Games in 1984, 1987 and 1997. The Brunei Softball Team, which fielded mostly Gunners players, also took part in the Asean Championship in 1988 in Manila, Philippines and in 1995 in Singapore.

The Brunei Softball Team also did well in other major regional competitions, winning bronze medals in the 1992 and 1994 Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia.

The Gunners are now back with high enthusiasm and have gathered several veterans from those days with the aim of re-introducing the sport to Brunei.

With the help of the Brunei Amateur Baseball and Softball Association, the club will be hosting a softball carnival soon and introduce the basic knowledge of softball to the local schools.

Pg Hj Jambol called on those who are interested in joining the carnival or setting up new teams to contact the association at fax number (2671717) or his mobile (8721717). The new teams can be coached or practise together with the Gunners at Ong Sum Ping field.

Meanwhile, the association urged any local baseball enthusiasts or teams to take the opportunity to learn the game from coach Do Hyung Kim while the coach is here till the end of July. They can also contact the association via the numbers mentioned above.

http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/June05/240605/bb_sports03.htm