What did you do on the 25th of February, 2012? Celebrated your birthday? Proposed to your partner? Or simply spent your time on social networks trying to find someone to talk to?
Well, it was quite a special day for me. It was the Avicenna Inter-Medical Varsity Debate & Sports Competition held in University Malaya, Malaysia.
I’d agree to the fact that it was just another fixture in a relentless schedule of studies had it not been the first ever competition graced by Perdana University. After all, you are going to make the debut bow once only, no?
After a couple of trainings and practices (marred always by schedule changes) prior to the competition, there we were, buzzing around in full energy, determined to announce our arrival to the Malaysian medical world with aplomb.
I arrived at the venue a day earlier, quite literally straight after class, to scout the area (scouting reports are confidential anyway; forget I mentioned it). Then I spent the night at Victor’s room. Haven’t seen that man for a long, long time. :’) Glad he’s still cool.
The rest of the team arrived in droves and by 8 o’clock, we have all gathered there. Futsal players, debaters and not to mention our gallant supporters, who braved the storm of homework in Cyberjaya just to come watch us in action.
Before I continue, here is a big hand to them.
Supporters and participants
There were speeches at the opening ceremony and the main draw was made there as well. The debaters then departed to the seminar room and we were totally separated from then on; all news we had from the debaters were from our supporters, who ferried messages from both venues with exceptional stamina. (Once again, a big hand.)
The Perdana University sent two futsal teams for this competition, christened Team A and Team B.
Team A was drawn into group G, where we had Malacca Manipal Medical College (MMMC) and the Royal Medicine College of Perak (RMCP) for company. Yeah I know, tough, tough draw. But we knew we had a mission to accomplish, and we were NOT intimidated.
Team B was drawn into group F, together with the University of Malaya (the host, read) and the National University of Malaysia (hope I got these right!). Even a tougher hill to climb, definitely a tougher nut to crack.
Warming up.
Well, I was drafted in Team A, where we had the services of lifelong Liverpool fan cum captain Irsyad and avid Chelsea fan Prassanth. And Amir the Gunner with Jia Chi the devil. Happy family. Then we had Chia Hsien the white specs guy.
5 already. Our defence was marshaled by yours truly standing between the sticks and one of the best central defender pairing I have played with for years, Goliath and the flying David.
Basically, I had nothing to fear. Luqman was Alex Oxade-Chamberlain in energy content. Kuhan was Per Mertesacker in height.
To cut the long story short, Team B was eliminated in the first round after going down 0-2 and 0-3. Great, great effort by the team but just unlucky enough.
Ok, and now, my turn to describe the exploits of team A with loving caresses. Due to the congested fixture list, our first match, against MMMC, was quite late. The match between MMMC and RMCP commenced earlier with the RMCP coming out 2-1 victors.
We knew a win would get us through the round and we were all motivated to check in early. Following a quick counter attack, Irsyad’s shot went through the legs of the opponent goalie and Luqman backheeled the ball in at the stroke of halftime. 1-0 to the Perdanans.
Two minutes after that, good play between our strikers found an open goal and Prassanth duly slotted in to seal the points.
The second game which was after qualification has been secured, was against the RMCP. However, the objective was to avoid second as AIMST University was a force not to be trifled with. Therefore, we went for the jugular at the first kick.
Sexy goalie, kinda reminds you of Marc, doesn't he?
As the footballing stories goes, it always has to go against the run of play. The RMCP took the lead with an easy shot at the near post I should have parried. David De Gea would have done better, to be honest. Then came the 10 seconds on madness.
My throw towards Prassanth found him and he smashed home the equalizer. *Phew* That’s the reason so many people get heart attack during matches. Had my fair share of scares; one shot was even denied by the woodwork.
Early scare: Number 90 denied by the bravery of Luqman and the safe hands of Sean.
Qualified for the second round as group winners.
Like Arsenal FC, we seemed to have the knack of drawing strong teams. We were set to play against Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), which boasts the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Believe me, when a goalie says a colleague is good, he’s really good.
The game begun after a break of two hours, by which everyone was exhausted. Mentally and physically. At the beginning of the game, I mistook Luqman as an opponent player, tacking him and giving him a beautiful laceration on his kne- oops, patella region. Next, following a goalmouth melee, Irsyad’s clearance went towards our goal and we were still on level thanks to a fortunate intervention - by my head.
At the half time, we pulled ourselves together.
My throw set Irsyad free, and he expertly sent the ball into the far corner. 1-0
Barely a minute had passed when, again, the ball was at my hands. Another throw, this one higher than usual, and Irsyad rose to head the ball past the goalkeeper. 2-0 to the Perdanans and we were through to the quarter-finals.
The quarterfinal was a little lackluster and disappointing, by which we all were exhausted beyond measure and unable to concentrate. Within two minutes, we were down 0-2. All hope was not lost though, an Irsyad goal set up by, again, my throw, gave us the chance of mounting a fightback but, with a third goal, Monash University clinched the game.
After the competition, I’d say we grew a little closer, as a team and as classmates as well. A few changes would be welcomed with much enthusiasm. One of it would be the building of team spirit through various means: training camps, singing the university anthem, following the team bus etc.
Not to mention also our mental strength and creativity. Yes, those departments need reinforcements.
Enough of that though; we have to congratulate ourselves for a job well done and although both the futsal players and debaters falling short of a medal place this year, we can do better next year.
WE WILL DO BETTER NEXT YEAR.
In action:
And the last pic, our debaters in discussion.
Signing off,
''My idol is Wojciech Szczesny and yeah, he has safe hands. I strive to work harder always and hopefully I can add some silverware onto my cabinet before the end of my university life.''
Expect your spouse to come from somewhere far, probably no less than 18,000 km away from you. Nah joking, just somewhere far. 
