Boys finish third in national U19 kabaddi tourney
KUCHING: Sarawak boys and girls performed up to expectations at the National U19 Kabaddi Championship that ended in Ipoh, Perak last Sunday.
The boys finished in third place after losing 36- 45 to Federal Territory in the semi-finals while the girls were fifth.
En route to the last four, the boys had beaten Kedah 66-32 and Penang 57-18 in the preliminary rounds.
Head coach Ganisan Punisamy expressed his satisfaction with the players, with the boys making their debut in the national meet.
“Our boys performed superbly and finishing in third place is indeed something great in view that they had only undergone one month of training. They can hold their heads high for losing narrowly to Federal Territory who are a great team and have at least two years of playing experience,” he told the Borneo Post.
“As for the girls, I had predicted that they will finish fifth in the five-team league and they actually finished fifth because they are all new faces and have no experience,” added Ganisan.
Other teams in the boys category included Selangor, Thailand, Pahang, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor while Sarawak’s opponents in the girls category were Federal Territory, Selangor, Perlis and Thailand.
According to Ganisan, Sarawak were the champions in the girls category in 2015.
“I believe all the players have gained valuable experience in the competition and will continue to train hard for other competitions including Sukma,” he said.