Courtesy: New Straits Times


Sunway Hotel win inaugural event

by K. Kandiah

INTER-HOTEL CHAMPIONSHIP: The team beat Golden Sands to close successful event

GEORGE TOWN: THE Malaysian Association of Hotels Penang Chapter hosted the inaugural Inter-Hotel Futsal Championship at the Penang Soccer Experience Futsal Court in Pulau Tikus near here recently.

Organising chairman Bukhary Ramli said since they were organising the event for the first time, the organisers were surprised by the overwhelming response from their member hotels.

He said the three-day event, which had attracted 20 teams from 15 hotels, was sponsored by Guinness Malaysia and Astro.
"We are also very happy to see employees of the hotels who came in droves to support the teams, about 300 on the first day and more than 500 on the final day. The carnival atmosphere was just like a big family get together.

"This augurs well for those in the hospitality industry. They get the opportunity to meet and mix around freely, when on normal circumstances the chances are almost nil," he said.

Bukhary said with such a good response, he would recommend to the Malaysian Association of Hotels Penang Chapter (MAH) to consider hosting the event annually.
Meanwhile, Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya thrashed Golden Sands Hotel 5-0 in the final.
For finishing first to fourth, Sunway Hotel, Golden Sands Hotel, Lone Pind Hotel 'A' and E&O Hotel received RM2,000, RM1,000, RM500 and RM300 respectively.

Sunway Hotel team manager Ben Ho Chang Peng said the team's confidence grew with every match which they won.

He said in the eight matches they played up till the semi-finals, his players scored a total of 21 goals.

"We started our preparation about 18 months before the competition, training just once a week. We were not able to gather all the players on the same day as they come from various departments and their working hours differ.

"I am grateful to my players as they had to sacrifice their off days and overtime just to attend training, and their sacrifice and efforts were rewarded with the win," he said.

Chang Peng, who is the hotel's general manager, said the cash prize money of RM2,000 would most likely be divided among the players and apart from that, the hotel would treat them to a dinner.

He hoped the tournament would be an annual affair, as this would encourage the hotels to have regular training and moreover, this would be the best opportunity for employees of the various hotels to interact and build their friendship.

Results

Q-finals: Lone Pine Hotel 'A' 2 Eastin Hotel 'B' 1; E&O Hotel 2 Holiday Inn 'B' 0; Golden Sands Hotel 2 Holiday Inn 'A' 1; Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya 4 Eastin Hotel 0.

S-finals: Golden Sands Hotel 2 Lone Pine Hotel 0; Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya 2 E&O Hotel 1.

3rd-4th placing: Lone Pine Hotel 2 E&O Hotel 2 (Lone Pine win 4-3 on penalties).

Final: Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya 5 Golden Sands Hotel 0






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com