KUCHING: Sofo Republic from Sabah emerged winners of the “Pasti 1 Celcom Futsal Championship 2010” by beating Community college 2-1 in a neck-to-neck final, at Arena Sukan yesterday.
Almost level in all departments on the court, it finally goes down to strong will and determination when Sofo Republic scored the winner barely minutes after the score was levelled by Community college in the second half.
Redeeming themselves after finishing fourth in the Sabah leg, the team led by captain, Datu Abdul Bersih Bagu was delirious as they took home the prize money of RM3,000 and a chance to play in the Grand Finale in Kuala Lumpur on July 11.
“We came down all the way to Kuching not knowing what to expect of the teams here, but we gave our best and I am happy that we are finally the winners,” exclaimed Datu prior to the prize giving ceremony
“We will definitely try our best in Kuala Lumpur to become the Champions,” added Datu whose squad are now closer to the grand prize money of RM30,000.
The squad made up of Nazrey Yunus, Safar Muhammad, Shairul Madni, Norbert Ng, Eddie Mansore, Miorzaki Satmi and Harmansyah Omar have been playing together for the past one year after knowing each other through mutual friends.
Datu also added that only Miorzaki is the sole Sarawakian in the squad while another teammate, Eddie, regrettably could not make it down to Kuching due to other commitments.
Making their way to Kuching and now planning for the competition in Kuala Lumpur, Datu added that all of the expenses are borne by themselves and the prize money here is a great welcome change of luck for them to lighten the financial burden.
Currently standing tall among all the other 103 teams taking part in this championship, Datu was happy that the teams here had shown the true spirit of sportsmanship by playing a fair match.
“The teams here are all professionals, I am glad that we took the chance and play here to gain extra exposure,” said Datu.
Winning the second place, Community college took home RM2,000 while the third placed team, Real Soccer won themselves RM2,000 after beating Pemuda Sentosa A 2-0.
As a consolation prize, Pemuda Sentosa went home with the prize money of RM500 and goodie bags.
Meanwhile, the organisers also gave the media organisation a chance to have fun on the courts by organising a futsal tournament for the media fraternity.
The winners were the star-studded cast of “The Star” after beating Utusan Borneo in the finals. They walked home with the prize money of RM1,400 while the runners-up were consoled with RM700 cash prize.