TEAM SPORTS
Poon Fook Loke (second from right) diving and shooting at the goal during a hockey match against the Soviet Union in Kuala Lumpur, 1981.
Besides being very important aspects of the sports scene, team sports have helped nation building and fostered national integration. Football is one of the most popular team sports. In the years before Independence, the climax of the football season was the Malaya Cup final, a fiercely fought competition between state teams which was dominated by Selangor and Singapore. The Merdeka Tournament, inaugurated in 1957 in conjunction with the celebration of the country’s Independence, was the region’s premier football event, and Malaya and South Korea were perennial champions. Malaysia’s highest football achievement was qualifying for the 1972 and 1980 Olympic Games. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) launched semi- and fully-professional leagues in 1989 and 1994 respectively, and established various football programmes, training centres and schools.
Hockey is popular in Malaysia as both a spectator and participatory sport. Local tournaments, including quadrangular and triangular matches among the states, the North versus South Classic, and the FMS versus the Colony, were organized in the early 1900s. Since Independence, hockey has flourished in the country under the auspices of the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) which organizes the national league, national junior league, the Razak Cup as well as various age-group tournaments. As of 2008, the men’s national team hovers just outside the top 10 in the International Hockey Federation world rankings. Since 1932, the national side has played in international competitions, including numerous Olympic Games and World Cups. Malaysia’s greatest accomplishment was finishing fourth in the 1975 World Cup held in Kuala Lumpur.
Sepak takraw, a variation of an ancient Malay game, emerged in the mid-1900s as a competitive sport. A combination of football and volleyball, sepak takraw is a visually stunning spectacle. Immensely popular in Southeast Asia, where Malaysia and Thailand tend to dominate international tournaments, sepak takraw is catching on in other countries around the world.
Rugby and cricket were brought to Malaya by the British in the late 19th century and, although neither sport is widely played, a core of committed exponents and enthusiasts keep interest in them alive. Introduced to the country by school teachers in the 1930s and 1970s respectively, volleyball and handball have evolved into popular and organized sports. Basketball is well established locally, particularly among Chinese youths, due to the efforts of the Malaysian Amateur Basketball Association (MABA), which conducts a busy calendar of events nationwide. Netball, a version of basketball played primarily by women, is also very popular in the country. Baseball is a young sport in the country, with the Baseball Federation of Malaysia being founded in 1996 and only two states and a handful of clubs playing the game. Softball has grown steadily since the 1960s and now has teams from nine states, the police and universities participating in leagues conducted by the Softball Association of Malaysia (SAM).