I would like to come back on our S32 performance with the Malaysia U21 NT.
First phase
All started well with 3 easy wins, then we faced HK who beat us thanks to a good 4th quarter. The logical loss against Taiwan was followed by an easy win against Macau. We managed to finish 3rd which is exactly where we were supposed to finish. Beating HK could have made this phase great but we didn't do bad and saved enthusiasm.
Second phase
Philippines was simply too good for us so I made a bet not playing at our full strength to preserve enthusiasm. It served us well against India, the weakest team of the group, as we managed to beat them by 20. The loss against Australia was almost inevitable but the back GDP hurt us with a heavy score. It came down to the last 2 games, two "must win" games. The first one against Iran went perfectly and we won easily. The last one, against HK, was a pain, despite having the GDP right we weren't able to stop their inside game. They won all 4 quarters and we finished 5th.
This season has been positive, we showed that we could be competitive and we had a (very) small chance to qualify for the semi-finals until the last game. We also improved in the world ranking up to #29. This matters as it can help to have easier opponents during schedule draw.
We were lead by Davis bin Aldean, well helped with Kennedy Emanuel bin Emping in the inside. A few young players provided valuable minutes and prepared for this season but I will talk about that in another thread...