Skippers from (SUTS) Swinburne (left) and Segi (right) with the referee and linesmen before kickoff in yesterday’s match which SUTS won 2-1. — Photo By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING: Five teams from private institutes of higher learning are playing in the IPTS Borneo League 2015 football competition being held over the weekend, with the sole winner to represent Sarawak Zone in the 2016 IPTS Football League.
The competition kicked off at Stadium Yayasan Sarawak in Jalan Sultan Tengah yesterday and will end tomorrow to see which team tops the table. In the curtain-raiser, International College of Advanced Technology Sarawak (i-Cats) drew 2-2 with Technology College Sarawak (TCS) for one point each. Multimedia College Sarawak (MMC) were to play i-Cats later yesterday afternoon.
In the morning’s second match, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak (SUTS) beat Segi College Sarawak (Segi) 2-1. SUTS, anchored by four foreign students who hail from a footballing nation, drew first blood for 1-0 barely minutes from kickoff. Their lead did not last long when Segi converted a penalty for 1-1 at half time. Both teams were almost equal in a game of possession until SUTS scored for 2-1 in the dying minutes. Despite the win for SUTS and a loss for Segi, both teams will have to wait until Sunday to see the true grit of all five teams to see who takes top spot in the league table to represent Sarawak Zone in the 2016 IPTS Borneo League.
Organising chairman Ahmad Jumry of the competition — jointly co-organised by Masiswa and Segi College Sarawak — said the IPTS Borneo League is a yearly affair and in 2014, Unitar represented Sarawak Zone.
“But unfortunately this year Unitar did not take part,” he added.
He said the IPTS League is the Ministry of Education’s initiative, through the Private Institutes of Higher Learning Sport Council of Malaysia (Masiswa), to search for football talents as well as others who excel in other sports.