Thursday July 5, 2012
Three Sumantri siblings make the cut for Sukma Pahang
KUALA LUMPUR: The Sumantri siblings – Norhizzat, Norsyafiq and Norazlin – come from a proud hockey family and all three will feature in the Sukma (Malaysia Games) in Kuantan.
The 21-year-old Norhizzat, who was the member of the Malaysian team who won the Junior Asia Cup in Malacca in May, is the captain of Federal Territory team.
Norhizzat, who plays in midfield, made his debut with the national senior team in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh last month.
He will play alongside his 16-year-old brother Norsyafiq in the men’s hockey competition, which begins today.
Forward Norsyafiq is in the Project 2017 squad and was voted the best player in the Under-16 four-nation tournament in Germany in May. The other teams in the fray were Holland and Belgium.
Their 19-year-old sister Norazlin is the skipper of the FT women’s hockey team.
Norazlin is also a national striker, having featured for Malaysia in the Olympic qualifier in Kakamigahara, Japan, in April. She is currently playing in the Asia Cup in Bangkok and will join the FT team for Sukma on Saturday.
Norhizzat, who has six international caps, said it “is very rare to have three siblings featuring in Sukma in the same year”.
“I don’t think any other siblings have played in the same Sukma,” he said.
“We could very well be the first to do it.
“Although we live in Klang, Selangor, we are representing FT because all three of us studied in the Setapak High School in Kuala Lumpur, which is a project school for hockey.
“My dad (Sumantri Wajiko) was unhappy with the Selangor HA for not helping us financially as we come from a poor family. He send us to Setapak High School, which took care of our needs in studies and our pursuit of excellence in hockey as well.
“My dad would have been very proud to see us playing in the Sukma together ... unfortunately he passed away in April due to thyroid cancer.
“It’s great that my sister is the captain of the women’s team. It will be really excellent if Norazlin and I can help FT win the men’s and women’s hockey gold medals.”
Besides Norhizzat, FT will also have the services of six other Junior Asia Cup players – Mohd Noor Faeez Ibrahim, Amir Farid Ahmad Fuzi, Mohd Mohd Rahmadan Rosli, Mohd Syamin Mohd Yusof, Mohd Shahril Saabah and Shahrul Azaddin Auzkarzie.
FT will open their campaign against Negri Sembilan in a Group A match tomorrow. The other teams in the group are Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah.
Runners-up Malacca, Penang, Perlis, Sarawak, Johor and Pahang are in Group B.
Meanwhile, 12 teams will feature in the women’s competition, which begins on Sunday.
Johor, Penang, Sarawak, Perak, Selangor and Malacca are in Group A while Pahang, Terengganu, Kedah, Negri Sembilan, FT and Kelantan make up Group B.
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