Boys battling for the Datuk MS Maniam Cup.
The Under-12 football competition by Malaysian Indian Football Association (MIFA) received overwhelming response from Tamil schools all over the country.
Some 1,000 boys and girls gathered for the event in Penang, which is also the first time MIFA has organised a competition for Under-12 girls.
Some of the participants of MIFA’s Under-12 football tournament held at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, which attracted 60 teams.
A total of 20 teams competed for the girls’ MIFA Beyond Cup and Datin Paduka Amma Mangalam Cup while 40 teams battled for the boys’ MIFA Beyond Cup and Datuk MS Maniam Cup.
Penang housing and environment committee chairman Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo launched the two-day competition at Kopa Arena, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
MIFA president K.V. Anpananthan was pleased to see the largest gathering for the competition in the association’s history.
“We hope to have more events for the girls in future editions,” he said, highlighting that MIFA had been holding the tournament for boys since 2000.
He said MIFA had identified potential talents among the boys and girls and would give them intense training to help them reach state and international levels in five years.
(Front row, from second left) Representatives of winners SJK (T) Ayer Tawar (MIFA Beyond Cup for girls), SJK (T) Bandar Sri Sendayan (Datin Paduka Amma Mangalam Cup), SJK (T) Dengkil (MIFA Beyond Cup for boys) and SJK (T) Kubu (Datuk MS Maniam Cup) with officials at the event.
“Through this development programme, we can provide an avenue for more Indians to be involved in top-level football.”
Anpananthan said the only drawback was difficulty in finding funding for competitions.
“We have requested funds from the Federal Government but have not received any response.
“For this event, we received funds from Penang government and well-wishers,” he said.
In the final of MIFA Beyond Cup for boys, SJK (T) Dengkil of Selangor and SJK (T) Bandar Springhill of Negri Sembilan played to a scoreless draw.
The Selangor team won the penalty shootout 3-2.
In the Datuk MS Maniam Cup, SJK (T) Kubu of Melaka edged SJK (T) Sepang in penalties.
P. Sathish of SJK (T) Bandar Springhill was adjudged best player of the competition while T. Thrieshwar of SJK (T) Sepang in Selangor was named best young player.
J. Vasigaran from Perak’s SJK (T) Pengkalan Baru was named special outstanding player, SJK (T) Dengkil’s M. Darshan was best goalkeeper while Reynold Silvanu of SJK (T) Sentosa in Selangor, and M. Dheiva Mani from SJK (T) Vageesar, Selangor, were the highest scorers.
Girls taking part in the MIFA Beyond Cup match.
In the final of MIFA Beyond Cup for girls, SJK (T) Ayer Tawar of Perak beat SJK (T) Arumugam Pillai of Kedah while the winner of the Datin Paduka Amma Mangalam Cup was SJK (T) Bandar Sri Sendayan of Negri Sembilan who defeated SJK (T) Gadek of Melaka.
SJK (T) Permatang Tinggi in Penang was named best team while A. Dhanusri of SJK (T) Arumugam Pillai was given the best player award in the girls category.
The most outstanding player was M. Poogalarasi from SJK (T) Cantuman Chaah, Johor while J. Hanusri from SJK (T) Gadek was best goalkeeper.
G. Kubershana and P. Loganayagi of SJK (T) Bestari Jaya, Selangor, shared the best scorer honours with four goals each.
