Malaysian female dodgeball team defeated Canada 6-5 at the recent World Dodgeball Championship to win gold. — Picture courtesy of the Malaysia Association of Dodgeball

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Malaysia are victors in one unexpected world sport — dodgeball.

The Malaysian women’s team beat Canada to take the gold at the finals of the Dodgeball World Championships 2016 in Australia yesterday.

“Our girls did it!!!! First GOLD for Malaysia. Against Canada 6-5. We are so proud of you. Malaysia boleh!” the Malaysia Association of Dodgeball (MAD) announced on its official Facebook page.

The Malaysian men’s team also delivered a stellar performance at the Australian games, winning the silver after losing to the Canadians.

“Thank you Malaysia. Thank you to everyone who supported us. Thank you to the players who showed relentlessness. Thank you Malaysian Association of Dodgeball (Mad) for bringing Malaysian dodgeball to where it is now. Thank you Australian Dodgeball Federation for hosting the most intense tournament yet.

“One Gold and One Silver...next year we’ll bring back double gold. Once again we did our best and we hope we did Our Malaysia Proud,” MAD said.

Teams representing Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mexico, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Singapore and the US also took part in the championships.

The Dodgeball World Championships under the international governing body World Dodgeball Federation (WDBF) is an annual game that was first hosted by Malaysia in 2012, followed by New Zealand (2013), Hong Kong (2014), US (2015) before it was hosted in Melbourne, Australia this year.

According to the championships’ website, the sport of dodgeball is played by pitting two teams of six players against each other, with the goal being the elimination of all the players on the other team by either hitting them with a ball or by catching a ball thrown by the other in full.

A team gets a point for each time they fully eliminate the opposing team within a 40-minute duration for a standard match.

* An earlier version of this article erroneously reported the Malaysia men’s team as having beaten Canada and has since been corrected. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.