| Fadhil Yunus |
DIVAS Softball Team got off to an encouraging start on the opening day of the ORA Fast Pitch Games 2016 Women’s Division at the Raffles Institution in Singapore yesterday.
Brunei’s only representative in the city-state earlier planned to use the tournament to gauge their playing levels against the other clubs in the region but their fighting spirit has given renewed enthusiasm of further progress.
Her Royal Highness Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah was a part of the Divas team who were narrowly beaten by Ora Gryphons 3-2 before bouncing back for a 9-7 victory against River Valley High School (RVHS) in the second game.
Divas Softball Team led 2-0 but were pegged back to level terms before Ora found a winner to condemn the Brunei-based outfit to their first loss of the tournament.
It was still a good performance by the Divas team considering it was the first time the team experienced playing on a diamond turf.
Her Royal Highness Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah is currently representing the Divas Softball Team in the ORA Fast Games Pitch 2016 Women’s Division in Singapore, the team’s first competitive outing overseas outside of Borneo. Divas ORA Gryphons lost 3-2 in the first game but bounced back to a 9-7 vic-tory against River Valley High School (RVHS) in the second game. – FADHIL YUNUS
According to coaches Gedda Valencia and Wan Tambrin, the surface allows the ball to generate a bounce effect and spin.
Divas, who had put up a good fight against RVHS, sustained a nervy spell with two tie breakers before Athiyyah As’ad binti Mohd Jaafar produced a home run and playing coach Gedda Valencia pushed the team to the finishing line with the winning hit.
Meanwhile, the third game against Cudas was halted after 58 minutes due to technicalities. It was pushed forward to Sunday morning.
According to the coaches, it was the first time the team was involved in an international league.
They expressed satisfaction with the defence and offence.
“With the initial intent to have fun with just gaining experience, we are now approaching each match with a fighting spirit to put us with every chance to win,” the coaches said.
Divas will resume their competition today against Raffles Institution, Mudball and Maiko Japan, a Japanese team based in Singapore.
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