Disappointment at Panna competition

The break between the last panna competition to this comp was a busy and tiring period for me. As usual I work really hard during training and getting myself mentally and physically prepared for this competition. This was the first competition where I trained and entered the comp mentally prepared to go for the win (Not that I am overly confident, just that I wanted to win badly).

As the day came closer, I was looking forward to the event and felt nervous about it. However, the competition turns out to be one of the worst I have competed in. Just some pointers to take note, I am not pointing fault at anyone. I just want to lay out some of the criticism so that everyone in the community can learn what are the things they have to look out for when hosting a panna event or prevent mistakes from repeating. I am always looking towards constant improvement and I always felt that it is important to recognize that there is a problem so that we can move on and improve on it.

First issue I had was the flooring of the competition area. The floor was incredibly slippery, so much so that the participant has trouble doing groundmoves and keeping the ball under control. What made it worst was that a slippery surfaced ball was used for the matches and it really made thing much worst. I heard complains regarding this issue from so many individual so I believe I am not the only one who faced an issue regarding this matter.

Second issue was with the Panna arena itself where the goal post was too big. the panna arena size is also not the correct size compared to those being used in competitions abroad. To counter this issue, the organizers actually stick a portable goal post on the floor inside the bigger goal to make it smaller. I am happy that they did it BUT the goal was still too big for a panna competition. This resulted in players playing more goal orientated and not as willing to go for the panna as often cause it was easy to score. Combining with the slippery floor, it was easy to lose the ball if you are not careful and end up conceding a goal immediately. This factor prove to be a huge benefit to football players as they do not go for the panna when they play.

Third issue was with the rules. Group stage was played in 1 min, knock out stage was played in 1 min 30 sec. A typical panna match is supposed to be played in a THREE MINS PER GAME format. This was the only competition I have taken part that allocate so little playing time to the participants. I was actually very shock and in outrage when I heard about the absurd rules.

Group stage went by well and I qualify top of my group to the knockout round but during the first match of the round of sixteen I was placed to play against Jordan which is a VERY good player and in my opinion he was one among the handful of players I felt was favorite to win the competition. It was a match fitting to be the finals BUT we met straight away in the knock out round. IT WAS RIDICULOUS as both of us top our group stage in 1st place and we should not be facing one another that early in the competition. The match was a hard fought one which went into golden goal TWICE and I manage to win the match ever so slightly. Huge respect to Jordan, love and respect after the game. After the competition when I was watching the match, I also start to question the authenticity of the ref as the timing of the game does not seem to be fair and was going against me.

After winning a huge match like this, it was quite shocking that I lost my quarter final match. Some pointers that I learned from this competition was the importance of warming up before every match. Panna matches In Singapore has a tendency of being held in shopping center which is cold and before you know it, your body starts to cool down. One of the reason why I lost the game was because I did not get myself prepared and warm up before the game. I think this is a good pointer for those of you joining a panna comp for the first time, In competitions, you usually will not know when your game is coming, so it is important to keep track of the schedule and take note when your match is coming up. As your match approaches, go grab a ball and do some warm up and practice some essential moves to get your body ready. Do not overexert yourself by doing long groundmoves as you do not want to exhaust yourself before the game.

The lost came to me as a huge disappointment as I worked really hard for it. I remember posting on my Instagram with the caption: " I've trained hard, but apparently it still wasn't enough." So how did I get back from such a disappointment? HAHA, the solution was simple, Train EVEN HARDER!

However, there were some positive things from the day. I went around to speak with some of the guys during the event and managed to get some of them to join our whatsapp group so that they can join us for training and learn more about panna. Among those that I approached were Josiah and Joshua, if you heard of them, you probably know how much they have grown and how good they are now. I will not be surprise that they win a championship tittle in the near future.