Hockey girls’ English adventure on ice.
Farah and Nuraini reach English semis but are forced home
National women’s goalkeeper Farah Ayuni Yahya and defender Nuraini Abdul Rashid had been on the verge of a glorious season in England. They had taken their club to the England National Women’s Hockey League semi-final.
And then, disappointment. Both the players, who played for East Grindstead Club in the Premier Division since last September, were ordered to return last week due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The hockey league has been put on ice.
The duo, both key players for their club, had helped the team finish runners-up in the league and they were to face third-place Hampstead and Westminster in the semi-final match tomorrow.
League winners Surbiton had been scheduled to take on fourth placed
Buckingham in the other semi-final.
The 31-year-old Farah, who has featured for East Grinstead since 2018, said that she and Nuraini were delighted to have helped their club emerge runners-up with 39 points from 18 matches.
East Grinstead won 12 matches, drew three and lost three in the 10-team league. Surbiton bagged the title with 46 points from 15 wins, a draw and two defeats.
“It feels great to have finished second best in the Premier Division and we were looking forward to playing in the semi-finals and help our club into the final.
“We were confident of beating Hampstead and Westminster and I was already dreaming of playing in the final.
“But the outbreak came at a terrible time. We are not sure when the situation will improve in England,” said the police inspector based in Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur.
“I don’t know whether the semi-finals and final matches will even be played as the virus is spreading very fast in Europe.
“Nuraini and I were told to return to Malaysia as the club were concerned about our health and safety. We returned last week and are both quarantined in our homes for 14 days,” said Farah, who has 200 caps for Malaysia since 2007.
The 30-year-old Nuraini, who joined her friend at East Grinstead last year, said they were still keeping their fingers crossed that the knockout stages would be played in May.
“We were told that if the knockout matches could not be played because of the virus, the top two teams in the Premier League (Surbiton and East Grinstead) would feature in the European League.
“We hope to return to England either in May or June to play in the European League. It will be a dream come true to play in the European League.
“I enjoyed playing in England League, which is one of top leagues in the world,” said Nuraini.
Both Farah and Nuraini returned home last November and helped Malaysia win the indoor hockey gold medal in the Philippines SEA Games. The duo also played in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) for two months from January before returning to England at the end of February.
Farah played for Blue Warriors (Police) in the MHL while Nuraini featured for debutants Hockey Academy (Hockademy) of Kuala Lumpur. Both are also likely to be called up to the national team on May 1 but will see out their European adventure before joining the team.