Defending champion CLS too powerful for Aspac<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Cahaya Lestari Surabaya (CLS)
\nproved its quality by cruising into the final of the Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri Cup women's basketball tournament at Senayan
\nbasketball stadium here.<\/p>\n
CLS, winner of pool A, outclassed pool B runner-up Aspac of
\nJakarta 99-51 on Wednesday. CLS, the champion of the women's
\nbasketball league since 1996, is expected to meet Merah Putih
\n(MP) Medco of Jakarta in Friday's final, which will be broadcast
\nlive by state-owned TVRI.<\/p>\n
CLS collected six points in its pool by winning all three of
\nits games. It defeated Utama of Yogyakarta 71-43 in their game
\nlate on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
MP was scheduled to face Rajawali of Bandung. If Rajawali, the
\nrunner-up in pool A, lose to MP, it will face Aspac on Friday for
\nthird place.<\/p>\n
MP tops pool B with the six points it earned by winning all
\nthree of its games. On Tuesday night, MP defeated Sahabat of
\nSurabaya 62-53.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Wednesday, Bhinneka Sritex Solo overcame Rajawali
\nSakti of Surabaya 73-46. Bhinneka will face Sahabat in a match on
\nThursday to decide fifth and sixth place in the tournament.<\/p>\n
Sahabat overcame Utama 65-62 in another match on Wednesday.
\nUtama will next meet Rajawali Sakti to determine the bottom two
\nplaces in the tournament.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that CLS showed it was the team to beat in
\nthe tournament, coach Wellyanto Pribadi remained hesitant to
\nguarantee his team would win the Cup.<\/p>\n
\"We want to play our best. If we can do so, we will win the
\ntournament,\" he said after the game.<\/p>\n
He said MP had a similar style of play as his team. \"MP's
\nplayers are more powerful and more persistent than our players.
\nBut each player has their own specialty, and I think we can tame
\nour opponents,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He also said CLS had eight players who were being groomed to
\nrepresent East Java at the 15th National Games (PON), which will
\nbe held from June 19 to June 30. He also said one player from his
\nteam would represent East Kalimantan at PON.<\/p>\n
Wellyanto said the results of the tournament did not guarantee
\nEast Java would win gold at PON.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta has good players from MP and Aspac,\" he said.(ivy)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/defending-champion-cls-too-powerful-for-aspac-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }