Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Amputee Football Association (Peboks) president Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah is confident that Sabah will be able to produce a pool of talented amputee footballers good enough to represent the country.
He said there are currently four players from the state who are in the national team, namely Fatnee Sardun, Muhd Shahnizam, Louis Simon and Mat Ridwan.
He expressed confidence that there will be more to follow their footsteps after the success of the inaugural Sabah Amputee Football Championship held at the UMS Synthetic Field on Saturday.
“This tournament is to provide an opportunity for the amputee community to compete in accordance with the motto of ‘One leg, One hand, One Mission’.
“It also serves as a platform to select players to represent the Sabah state team at the National Championship, this coming June in Johor Bahru.
“So far, I can see that there are at least one or two from the Interior Zone team that could represent the country in the future,” he said.
A total of three teams took part in the Five-A-Side competition. West Coast Zone consisted of players from Kota Kinabalu, Papar and Penampang), Interior Zone with players from Keningau, Sook, Nabawan, Tambunan, Tenom, Sipitang, while the other team (TUT) are players from Tuaran, North and East Coast.
West Coast was crowned champions after beating TUT 3-2 in the final to take home the RM1,000 winning prize while the losing finalist received RM500.
International Shahnizam, who scored the hattrick in the final for West Coast was also the top scorer in the competition with nine goals.
In the penalty kick competition, team Tiger West was the winners with a 3-2 win over Lounduz FC in the final.
They received RM500 cash prize and RM300 to the runners-up.
Meanwhile, Asyraaf who presented the challenge trophy to the winning team expressed his gratitude to the organizing committee for their dedication and hard work.
He also extended his appreciation to all the team manages: Muhd Faizul Taha from the Interior Zone team, Amoster Alex Henry Inter from the TUT team and Mohd Shazliansah Wun Sang Mohd Gazali from the West Coast Zone team, acknowledging their contribution and supports throughout the competition.
