NS Matrix cagers receive SOHO worth RM280,000 each

SEPANG, May 31 (Bernama) -- The Negeri Sembilan (NS) Matrix basketball team players and coaches were in a celebratory mood when they received the keys to an apartment each at the Horizon Suites Serviced Apartment near Dengkil here today.

The SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) apartment units, worth RM280,000 each, were presented to the nine players and two coaches as a reward for winning the Agong Cup for the third consecutive time in 2018.

Team captain Kuek Tian Yuan, 32, said the reward from the NS Basketball Association sponsor Datuk Seri Lee Tian Hock, who is also Malaysia Basketball Association (MABA) president, would motivate them to excel further in the sport.

“I am happy because only in basketball do we get such rewards and, so far, I have been rewarded three times! A lot of people would say we (the players) don’t have a future, but Datuk Seri Lee has helped us a lot, for which we are grateful,” he told reporters today.

On the national team’s dismal performance at the recently-concluded SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam where they failed to win a medal, Tian Yuan blamed it on poor fitness due to the lack of training over the past two years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am almost reaching retirement age, so I need to work harder. Apart from that, we (the men’s national team) also faced challenges in (terms of) height and we didn't play well,” the national skipper said while stressing the need to increase his fitness level to fight for a medal in the 2023 Cambodia edition.

Meanwhile, Lee said the reward system was initiated by him to motivate the players to continue working hard to excel in the sport, as well as to retain the title.

“Actually the apartments were completed last November, but I decided to give them the keys this year because the units are now fully furnished and they can just move in. After this, we will come up with a different reward system (beginning this year),” he said.

Lee also announced that he would launch the new 3,000-capacity stadium, named Arena Seremban, next year and it could be a potential venue for the 2027 SEA Games to be hosted by Malaysia.

Lee had, in 2016, announced the reward system for the NS Matrix, with the team receiving cars worth RM70,000 each for winning the Agong Cup for the first time. Then, they were rewarded with RM100,000 cash each for winning the title a second time in 2017.

For winning the title a fourth consecutive time in 2019, six players and two coaches are set to receive a condominium unit each in Kuala Lumpur.

The Agong Cup competition is set to make a comeback in December after a two-year lapse due to the pandemic.

-- BERNAMA