The national blind futsal teams from Malaysia and South Korea came head-to-head recently in friendly games held in Kuala Lumpur on November 19th and 20th at the National Hockey Stadium.

The matches were organised jointly by the Malaysian Blind Sports Association (MBSA) and the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) with the support from Asian Football Confederation (AFC), National Sports Council (NSC), National Sports Institue (ISN), Nestle Products (MILO) and Malaysia Stadium Corporation (MSC).

The games were played – for the very first time – following a request by the Korean Blind Sports Association (KBSA) to MBSA to arrange the fixtures in Malaysia.

Games included friendly internationals in both B1 (totally blind) and B2/B3 (partially sighted) categories. Malaysia fielded one B1 team two B2/B3 teams and Korea took part with one team in each class.

Matches kicked off on Saturday, 19th November with the prelimenary rounds and finals were held on Sunday, 20th November.

Despite rainy conditions, teams showed off their talents and skills to an appreciative crowd.

Final results

B1 Category Korea 1-0 Malaysia

B2/B3 Category Korea 3-1 Malaysia

Winners medals were presented by Mr. Ingill Ra, Director of Social Responsibility Department of AFC, who represented Dato’ Alex Soosay, AFC General Secretary.

Dr. S. Radha Krishnan, IBSA Asia Chairman, President of the Malaysian Blind Sports Association (MBSA) and Vice President of MAB was also present at the medal presentation ceremony.

Dr. Krishnan has confirmed that the Korean Blind Sports Association will be inviting Malaysia next year for return friendly matches in Seoul.

The 4th IBSA Futsal Asian Championships in the B1 category take place later this month in Sendai, Japan.

Click here to watch the promo video for the championships, or here to visit the official web site.