*FINAL EDIT: 05/09/07 - Muar Kun Seng Keng video added in*
In conjunction with the celebration of Klang's 50th Merdeka festivities, a lion dance championship was held at Bandar BotanicResort Club's badminton hall on the 19th of August 2007.
A total of 17 teams took part in the one day event which lasted from10am all the way to 11pm. The turnout for the competition was alsogood, with the hall being fully packed for the majority of the day,especially at night when the three supposedly strongest teams were todance. (Disclaimer: the troupe names were all listed in chinese which I unfortunately can't read, so the names I'm typing out could be very very wrong. Thousand apologies)
Pahang Hong Keng The team to start off the day was Hong Keng from Pahang. Albeit a lil shakey, they did manage to pull off a number of neat stunts to the amusement of the audience that packed the small badminton stadium. A number of deductions for minor mistakes, and then they had a major fall at the last jong when the lion did a 4 legs on one jong stunt. Score: 6.87 (8.37)
Kepong Kok Hing The shortest performance throughout the whole day's competition. The dancers must've been very nervous or something because as soon as they got up the jongs, they were making mistake after mistake. Barely half a minute on the jongs, they had a major fall and the dancers could no longer continue on with the performance. Score: Did not complete
Setapak From what I heard, the two dancers were just paired up for a week due to an injury to the former head dancer, and it showed. Although they started off fine, they soon started to make mistake after mistake. It was quite nice to see an indian guy dancing the tail, which seems to be a common trend nowadays. They had to bow out after their 3rd major fall. Score: Did not complete
Kajang Hokkien Association After three somewhat disappointing performances, this team put up a strong performance and that showed from the crowd's reaction. A routine verysimilar to Khuan Loke's main team's performance. They unfortunately hada few mistakes and also a major fall on their way down the jongs afterfinishing the cheng. Score: 6.31 (8.51)
Banting Hong Teck This is the only team I missed for the day as I was away forlunch. Judging by the score, it was nice to note that they didn't have any major falls. A pair that has potential but somehow always screws up in competitions. Score: 8.02 (8.52)
Seremban Yuen Loong This is another team that I've seen improve a lot. The show they put up at this competition was a vast improvement from the last time I saw them at the Mines Dragon Meet Lion championship in March. The performance was heavily influenced by Khuan Loke and KSK, and they pulled it off well. Two medium faults did not deter them from getting the highest score of the day thus far. Score: 8.17 (8.77)
Teluk Intan San Min A high school team from Perak, they had very solid music. The jumps weren't too smooth and they had a number of errors, including a major fall near the end of the performance. This is the second competition I'm seeing them in and they aren't too bad for a high school team. Score: 7.04 (8.54)
Sg Buluh Hong Teck
The team had the crowd going from the start itself. A relatively new team, it comprised mainly of small little kids. The expressions weren't the greatest, but it sure wasn't bad. The jumps were also nice and smooth. Despite a minor mistake, they were by far the best team to have performed at that time.
Score: 8.73 (8.83)
Kuantan Kin Cho Hong
They weren't very good, but they had very strong determination. They started the performance with a number of minor mistakes but still stayed up on the jongs. Eventually, they did have a number of major falls but they continued dancing. They even dropped the cheng which would've resulted in a major deduction, but luckily the lion managed to grab to a few branches to avoid that deduction. A lot more work to be done before they get up there, but their sheer grit is surely something to marvel at. Score: 5.16 (8.06)
Kajang Yu Hua
First timers for competitions, I think they did very well, despite the two minor mistakes that they committed. Even the first few jongs were 70 inches high, and if I'm not wrong, was the highest for this competition. One thing that they really need to improve on is in the music category which was off timing at many points and a lil messy. But all in all, good attempt. Score: 8.32 (8.52)
KL Loong Seng Loong Seng is now another regular team in local competitions, but they've never had much luck. One thing that they still lack is the fluidity of their jumps. Doesn't look very nice and impressive the way they jump. They are very hardworking though, and have improved a lot since I first saw them, but they still lack something that'll bring them to a higher level. They unfortunately had a very bad fall nearing the end of the competition, forcing them to pull out. Score: Did not complete
Ampang Kam Ying
Haven't seen them in competitions for quite some time and I'm not too sure if this is their team A or team B, but the performance could be much better. They had a lil problems going up the jongs using the kick up method, experiencing 2 major falls during their first two attempts. Their jumps weren't too smooth either, and a lot more needs to be done if they wanna impress the judges and the crowd.
Score: 5.98 (8.28)
KL Thean Hou Temple
Using their junior team, nothing spectacular besides seeing them fly here and there. The head has improved a lil on his expressions, but they still have a long way to go before being a serious contender for championship titles. They did have quite a smooth performance with a few minor mistakes, but they had a major deduction because the cheng fell.
Score: 7.77 (not sure about the gross score)
Selayang Baru MCA
This was another short performance. Using the same jongs that the previous team used, they had the same problem about the lion head being unstable. This is a new pair of dancers I guess, because they had a number of mistakes, before a major fall injured the dancers and forced them to end it early.
Score: Did not complete
Kedah Hong Teck
The first team to dance during the night session of the competition when the stadium was overly crowded, they had the stadium full of gasps and cheers with their powerful jumps and emotions. Not suprising, as this is one of the top teams in Malaysia and probably the world now. They had some very very far leaps as well, which I think is the furthest in this championship. A faultless performance put them in a huge lead over the other teams
Score: 9.08
Sg Way Khuan Loke
Khuan Loke was using a junior team for the competition, and their lack of skills showed, as compared to other powerhouses such as Kedah Hong Teck which were using their main dancers. The jumps weren't too smooth, but the crowd was thrilled with the performance involving falling jongs and gas sprouting jongs. The musicians also had new moves to keep the crowd entertained. Although far from the highest score, their net score was enough for them to have a podium finish
Score: 8.59 (8.89)
Muar Kun Seng Keng
Hot favourites for the title, the world champions were the last team to perform. Using a slightly watered down routine from what they did to win at Genting a few weeks back, the sold out crowd were cheering on all the way, especially during the parts where the bubbles come out and when the tail swings around. Midway through the performance, the head had a near fall and that was enough to get them a 0.1 deduction, dampering their hopes of adding yet another title to their name.
