Sibling rivalry adds spice to script

Sapura’s Keevan (left) and Logan Raj are set to square off against E&Y’s Misron siblings, Azlan and Azli in the final on Saturday.

FAMILY ties will come to the fore when Sapura play Ernst & Young in the MHL-TNB Cup final at the KLHA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Sapura will have two pairs of brothers Keevan and Logan Raj and Jiwa and Jiwan Mohan while E&Y have the Misron siblings, Azlan and Azli.

To make it even more interesting, the head coaches of both teams are also brothers -- Sapura's K. Enbaraj and E&Y's Muhd Dharma Raj Abdullah.

E&Y, the league champions, are featuring in their seventh final and interestingly, they have yet to lift the overall title while Sapura are aiming for their third title in four years.

They won in 2005 and 2006.
E&Y, powered by a host of national players, will start as favourites as they defeated Sapura 2-1 and 2-0 in the league.

"I suppose a sibling rivalry is on the cards between me and my brother. I'm in my first year with Sapura, while Dharma Raj has vast experience as a coach," said Enbaraj yesterday.

"It will be sweet if my team can get the better of his. My players are training very hard for the final. I'm confident they will play to their ability and strength."

The champions will receive RM25,000 while the runners-up RM10,000.

The final will be beamed live over Astro's channel 811.

FIXTURES: Saturday -- Third placing: Tenaga Nasional v Maybank (3pm); Final: Ernst & Young v Sapura (5.30pm).

(Both matches at the KLHA Stadium in Jalan Pantai).

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