Kautsar joins fellow S’wakian Nadia in national selection
KUCHING: Another softballer from Sarawak Muhammad Kautsar Untong has been called up by the Malaysian Softball Association for national selection to prepare for the Asia Men’s Softball Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia from April 23 to 28.
Kautsar, a catcher from Kuching is among the 30 players who will undergo the national selection at SMK Saujana Impian, Kajang from March 16 to 18.
This has brought the number of players from Sarawak called up for national selection to two, the other being Nadia Chin who will be vying for a place in the national team for the 7th Asian Junior Women’s U19 Softball Championship in Clark City, Philippines on May 12-18.
They were cal led up for selection based on their good performance in the National Open last year.
Kautsar was a member of the Sarawak Sukma 2011 and 2013 teams and had also played for the state in the National Open in 2016.
He played for clubs like Gypsies, Mohawks and Spartans and from 2016 to 2017, Kautsar joined the Tsunami Miri for a tournament in Bintulu, played in the Sabah Open and twice in the Sarawak Open.
Sarawak Softball Association (SSA) Ishak Chin Abdullah said he was happy that two players were called up for national selection this year.
“Since SSA was formed in 2011 and joined the Malaysia Softball Association as an affiliate, we have nominated and sent Greg Pengiran Mutang, Watson Payrie, Andrea Beli, Haifa Chin and now Nadia and Kautsar for national selection.
“Watson and Haifa were selected for the Singapore SEA Games in 2015,” said Ishak.
“It is through the producing of all these elite players that motivates us in SSA to continue striving on under many challenges especially in the financial aspect,” he added.
Ishak expressed his gratitude and appreciation to all the people and coaches who had contributed to the success in producing good calibre players for the national teams.