KUCHING: Four of Sarawak Eagle’s players have been shortlisted in the initial selection for the national team although the team failed to reach the finals of the recent 2nd Malaysia U20 Basketball Championship.
They are Julian Sia Yiik Heng, Muhammad Afifi Tahar, Bryan Sim and James Jong Tze Yen who are selected based on their good performance at the national tournament held at the Maba Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
Coached by Greg Noel Gurr from Australia, the team from Sarawak registered only one win and three defeats to crash out of the competition in the group stages.
Sarawak Eagles opened their campaign with a 75-67 win over KL The One but suffered consecutive defeats to JB Taman Daya (76-37), Kedah Basketball (75-56) and Selangor Basketball Club (70-57).
The team were not expected to perform well at the national competition but Gurr was quite certain they have gained valuable experience.
“I believe that they will gain valuable experience as this is their first step in the road to Sukma 2016,” he said before the team left for Kuala Lumpur end of June.
Five of the players are 20 years old while the rest are 17 or 18 years old.
Other members of the team are Liu Jia Jun, Kelvin Huong Nai Sin, Simon Ngu Siong Yung, Gary Yong Yew Nin and Wong Hung Ling.
They will form the core team for the next Sukma in 2016.