Malaysia Targets 'Cerebral Palsy' Football Final In ASEAN Para Games

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is aiming to reach the final of the football event in the Cerebral Palsy (CP) category at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur ASEAN Para Games from September 17-23. Head coach Asnan Mohd Zuki said the achievement would automatically qualify the squad for the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia, as well as the 2019 Cerebral Palsy Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championship in India. "I see our (main) competitors this time are Thailand, based on their performance in previous editions, but we are also analysing the performance of other teams such as Myanmar and Singapore," he said during a press conference here Sunday. He explained that player-selection campaigns had been carried out nationwide since January, with 18 short-listed candidates undergoing final phase training since July. Asnan said the selection was made based on the requirements of the competition, namely each team having players in each of the different categories of CP 5-8. Six countries are taking part in the 2017 ASEAN Para Games, namely Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia as the host nation. -- BERNAMA