Curtin Sarawak’s Amplifire second in Shark Alarm Open 2016

Miri – 19 October 2016 – Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) Ultimate Frisbee team Amplifire emerged second in the recent Shark Alarm Open 2016 ultimate Frisbee competition held at Setia Alam Football Field in Shah Alam, Selangor.

The competition was organised by Ultimate Frisbee Shah Alam (SATE) to raise awareness of shark conservation efforts around the world.

Amplifire captains Jacky Yong, Jonah Ong and Tong Jia Zheng put together a strong team of 18 players for the tournament. They also conducted intensive training for the players to build their strength and stamina.

Amplifire managed to secure top spot in the group stages, beating five teams from Singapore and Penang. The team then proceeded to the upper brackets where teams competed for places in the finals.

In the quarterfinals, Amplifire won with a score of 6-4 against Kuala Lumpur team Soar High and 8-6 against Singapore Management University (SMU), securing a spot in the finals against Kuala Lumpur-based team and four-time champion, AUR.

AUR emerged victorious in the finals, beating Amplifier 14-8 and securing their fifth consecutive win in the competition.

According to Curtin Sarawak alumnus and ex-captain of Amplifire, who currently plays for AUR, Chear Chie Khan, it was great to see Amplifire become one of Malaysia’s elite ultimate Frisbee teams.

“Amplifire has certainly come a long way since the time I was with the team,” said Chear. “Emerging second out of 24 top teams from Malaysia and Singapore was not an easy feat and the team is to be congratulated for its very good showing in the competition.”

Curtin Sarawak Ultimate Frisbee Club vice-president Tan Yong Sheng said he hopes more students of Curtin Sarawak will join the club and keep the sport alive at its campus of over 4,000 students from some 45 countries.

Amplifire’s participation in the competition was sponsored by State Assemblyman for Piasau Dato’ Sebastian Ting and Miri Mayor Adam Yii.

Ultimate Frisbee is an exciting, non-contact team sport played by thousands the world over. It mixes the best features of sports such as soccer, basketball, American football and netball into an elegantly simple yet fascinating and demanding game that requires a lot of stamina and mental skills to outpace opponents. Accurate throwing is hugely important in the sport and players seek to score points by passing a Frisbee to a teammate over the opposing team’s goal line.

For more information on competition, see the Shark Alarm Open 2016 event page and TV3 news video on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeritaTV3/videos/1492718857409957/.

Amplifire players pose for group photo.

Players in action.