Sahil's fit to play, at last

At long last, the Courts Young Lions can unleash striker Sahil Suhaimi in the Great Eastern-Yeo's S.League.

The 21-year-old passed the league's mandatory 2.4-kilometre fitness test on Monday evening, on his sixth attempt.

Sahil, who starred at last December's South-east Asia (SEA) Games, clocked between 10min 12sec and 11min 30sec in his previous five attempts and has not played a competitive match this year.

Watched by players from the LionsXII and the Singapore Under-17s, who were involved in a friendly at the Yishun Stadium on Monday, he ran 9min 55sec - five seconds under the passing mark.

COLLAPSED

"I collapsed as soon as I passed the 2.4km mark, and the LionsXII guys were cheering for me," Sahil told The New Paper last night.

"As soon as I heard that I made it, I was just relieved that I didn't have to take the test again.

"It's been really tough. After I failed for the third time (last month), I was even considering giving up football - I was that demoralised."

Since his first failed attempt in mid-January, national coach Bernd Stange moved to place the young striker on extra workouts with Football Association of Singapore fitness coach Aleksandar Bozenko.

What also helped him pass were the words of encouragement from his family, teammates and coach Aide Iskandar.

"Coach Aide had been reminding me almost every day that I had to pass the test," said Sahil, who made his S.League debut as a 17-year-old in 2010.

"He kept telling me not to count the laps, but to just keep running until I drop.

"I was doing that during the trial runs, but kept missing (the mark) by a few seconds."

Sahil's inexplicable failure to clear the test had led to speculation in the football fraternity that he was holding out for a move to Fandi Ahmad's LionsXII side, who play in the Malaysian Super League (MSL).

The MSL does not have mandatory fitness assessment.

Sahil rubbished the rumours.

"The LionsXII were never on my mind," he insisted.

"If I wanted to play in the MSL, I would not have signed with the Young Lions before the SEA Games."

The Young Lions have struggled in their opening six S.League matches without Sahil, losing five and drawing once. They are currently 11th in the 12-team league.

Blessed with skills and an eye for goal, the striker hopes to change his team's fortunes, starting with their match against Albirex Niigata at the Jalan Besar Stadium tomorrow.

Said Sahil: "My team manager told me he plans to register me in time for that game.

"I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to playing. It's been three long months."

This article was published on April 9 in The New Paper.

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