Vanilla Star strikes it at handball tournament despite lack of training

By NG WEI LOON

DESPITE the lack of training, Vanilla Star survived the opening week of the third National Handball Clubs League at the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) Sports Arena recently.

The side comprising expatriates from France, Norway, Denmark and Finland maintained a clean slate with two wins.

In their first match, they subdued the aggression of the youngsters from Terengganu Sports School (TSS) before prevailing 11-9 in a closely contested encounter.

Vanilla Star captain Thomas Chataigner admitted it was hard to co-ordinate the attacking in their first match getting back together.

Superior physique: A player from Vanilla Star (in pink) shielding the ball from a TSS player (in blue).

“Our attacking was weak and we could only apply for the one-on-one strategy. We knew that we needed to move their (TSS) defensive line and slow down the tempo of the match. The juniors were very quick and they stamped their mark with their speedy display. But, they found it a bit difficult playing against us because we are taller. We overcame them because we had players with better individual skills,” added Chataigner, who had also guided the national men’s side for SEA Games in Thailand last year.

Going into the interval after the first half of 15-minute play, Vanilla Star went ahead with a sole goal advantage (5-4) against TSS.

Ferdinand Doepel and Chataigner scored five and four goals respectively while Simon Cordonnie and Nikolas Vogel contributed one each for Vanilla Star.

“This is our second time taking part in the league. We came back with the same bunch of players this year. We are aiming to improve our ranking in the standings,” said Chataigner, 27, a financial controller by profession from France.

TSS replied through Mohd Shahrul Eddie Mohd Non (five goals), Mohd Izzat Fazreel Alias (three) and Ahmad Hazrin Ramly (one).

TSS coach Mohd Nasri Abdullah said his charges put up a fighting display to match their opponents.

Speedy display: TSS (in blue) trying to match Vanilla Star in attack.

“It was the first time we played in the hall. So, we took awhile to adapt to the conditions before we could execute our usual tactical game. We have combined our boys’ Under-15 and Under-18 sides for this tournament. Our boys’ Under-15 side were the champions at this year’s Malaysia School Sports Council (MSSM) meet. It was a good experience for them playing in the league,” he added.

Vanilla Star also took the second match against Gombak 16-13 in the final match-up of the day.

Among the men’s teams in the fray are Hoisan, Cempaka, Gombak, Hulu Langat, NS Boy and SM Agama Persekutuan, Kajang (SMAP).

NS Boy and Hoisan are the top two teams in the men’s league standings as they also chalked up two victories from their first two matches.

Meanwhile, six sides – Blitz, TSS, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM), B4B, Ex-UiTM and Libra – are competing in the women’s league.

Last year’s runners-up Blitz boosted with the services of players, who have donned the national stripes at the previous SEA Games, also got off to a good start.

Two other sides – TSS and Ex-UiTM – also registered victory in their opening matches.

Malaysia Handball Federation (MAHF) secretary Ng Num Thiam said the teams had three weeks to prepare for their upcoming matches.

“The league will resume on June 22. We will take another three weekends before we complete the fixtures on July 20. In the men’s league, each team will feature in two matches each Sunday.

“And teams are happy that they are getting more match exposure playing in the league over the next one month.

“It is also cost effective for teams making the effort to field their sides to be part of the tournament,” he added.