Youngsters win dream trip to English club QPR

SINGAPORE — Two promising young footballers have secured a precious opportunity to train with English football club Queens Park Rangers.

Effan Putra Ibrahim, 15, and Nuruddin Irsyad Samion, 16, were selected from a group of 60 trainees who took part in an AirAsia-QPR Coaching Clinic held at the Jalan Besar Stadium this afternoon (Dec 11).

Under the watchful eyes of QPR in the Community Trust’s Camp Director Martino Chevannes and QPR coaches Danny Edwards, Alfie Ferguson, Alex Gordon and Stephen McCarthy, the young players displayed their technical skills and also picked up tips in ball control, passing, shooting and other tactical aspects of the game.

Effan and Nuruddin will now head to London next March where boys will meet the QPR first team, train at QPR’s training ground and enjoy a full day at the club’s Academy.

Said Effan, who goes to Kranji Secondary School: “I am feeing very happy right now. I did not expect to win as I felt everyone did well today. Hopefully I can gain experience, exposure and make some friends in London.”

This is the second time that AirAsia and London club QPR, whose chairman is AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes, are holding the coaching clinic here. The previous occasion was in 2013. Back then, four players were selected for the QPR training stint.

Said AirAsia Singapore CEO Loganathan Velaitham: “We are proud to once again collaborate with QPR in the Community Trust to inspire young football talents in our region by providing them with the right platform, exposure and opportunity to showcase their skills.

“We hope this AirAsia-QPR Coaching Clinic series will continue to encourage and inspire the young talents to maximise their potential in the sport.”

The coaching clinic tour, which started in Pattaya last week will next move on to Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai.