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Wednesday October 28, 2009

Ahmad learns it pays to be humble

By AFTAR SINGH

KUALA LUMPUR: Defender Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin has learnt a lesson for his arrogance when he was with the national junior hockey team.

And he is not about to repeat the mistake now that he has made it to the senior ranks.

Ahmad was tipped to be the skipper for the Junior World Cup Finals in Johor Baru in June but lost the armband to Khairil Annuar Mohamed Isa.

However, the 21-year-old Pahang player held his head up in the tournament to impress the selectors enough to give him a call-up to join the senior training squad last month.

Ahmad also got the chance to play in the last two of a five-match Test series against Australia last weekend and he was subsequently named in the final squad of 18 for the World Cup qualifying tournament in Invercargill, New Zealand, from Nov 7-15.

“The selection is a pleasant surprise as I felt that I would only get the chance to represent the national senior team next year. I thank the coach (Tai Beng Hai) for having faith in me,” said Ahmad.

Ahmad admitted that he had learnt to be humble and modest from not getting to lead the team in the Junior World Cup Finals.

“I was the captain for most of the tournaments last year and took it for granted that I would be retained for the Finals. I was arrogant and lost the captaincy,” he said.

Besides Ahmad the other defenders in the team for the qualifiers are Mohd Madzli Ikmar, Mohd Amin Rahim, Baljit Singh Charun, Jiwa Mohan and Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim.

Ahmad also admitted that it would be tough to win the tournament in Invercargill to qualify for the World Cup Finals in New Delhi in March.

“However, I am looking forward to play in my first major international senior tournament,” he said.

Malaysia will open their campaign in the qualifiers against Austria on Nov 7. Their other matches are against Wales (Nov 8), New Zealand (Nov 10), Scotland (Nov 11) and China (Nov 14). The final and playoff matches are scheduled for Nov 15.

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