National Touch League experiment underway in Malaysia

The Inaugural National Touch League (NTL) Malaysia is underway at Taman Ekuestrian Putrajaya, Presint 5, and will be critical to Malaysia’s competitiveness at future international tournaments. 

Unfortunately, due to the spread of Omicron, spectators were unable to attend the much-anticipated tournament held at the venue that hosted the 2019 World Cup. 

NTL played over the weeks

The tournament tapped off on Saturday 12 February 2022 and runs for three weekends until Sunday 27 February 2022. 

The best Touch players from Selangor, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are competing in the tournament across six divisions.

Hj. Ahmad Sufiani Johari, President of the Malaysia Touch Association (MTA), said the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the participants is national selection for the MTA Development Squad.

Mr Sufiani explained, “32 athletes from each division will be selected to prepare for the Inaugural Asia Touch Cup 2023 in Shanghai, the fourth Youth Touch World Cup 2023 in Manchester and 10th Touch World Cup 2024.”

Apart from preparing for future international tournaments, Mr Sufiani said the NTL is a test event for Omicron prevention. 

“Following the latest development of Covid-19 Omicron transmission worldwide, MTA has implemented an experimental event with strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) following the advice from experts at the Ministry of Health Malaysia, Malaysia National Sports Institute and the Malaysia Sports Commissioner Office,” said Mr Sufiani. 

“The National Touch League experiment has also enabled MTA to bring event professionals and local volunteers together,” Mr Sufiani added. 

National Touch League (NTL) Malaysia Schedule: 

 •            12 -13 Feb 2022 - Women's Open & Men's 30s 

 •            19 -20 Feb 2022 - Men's Open & Men's 40s 

 •            26 -27 Feb 2022 - Mixed Open & Men's 50s