KUALA LUMPUR: Defender Andywalfian Jeffrynus is in upbeat mood for his first Junior World Cup, which begins on Tuesday at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
The 18-year-old from Sabah is the fourth penalty corner drag flicker in the Malaysian team. He converted one against Great Britain in the recent Sultan of Johor Cup (Malaysia lost 7-4). He took three penalty corners in SoJC.
Andywalfian said he was delighted to have finally scored his first goal for Malaysia since his debut in the SoJC last year.
"It (penalty corner goal) has boosted my confidence. I believe that I can score in JWC if I'm given the chance to take it," said Andywalfian.
Andywalfian, who took up hockey at the age of 10 at SK Pekan School in Keningau, said besides scoring, he also wants to be solid in defence.
Malaysia will open their Group A campaign against Chile on Tuesday before facing defending champion Argentina on Wednesday and Australia on Dec 8.
"Playing in front of home fans in the JWC and scoring will be a dream come true for me," said Andywalfian.
Malaysia's main penalty corner flickers are captain Faris Harizan followed by Shahmie Irfan Suhaimi and Harris Iskandar Osman.
Andywalfian, who is the sixth among eight siblings, said he wants to make his parents proud by being the first in his family to represent Malaysia.
"My parents, Jeffrynus Jupil and Nancy Mogong, will be in KL to watch me in action for the first time in an international tournament," said Andywalfian, who is studying at Sabah Sports School in Kota Kinabalu.
He received incentives of RM3,000 and RM1,000 from Sabah Sports State Council after playing in the Junior Asia Cup in Oman in January (Malaysia finished fourth) and the Phnom Penh Sea Games in May (Malaysia won gold).
He is the second Sabahan, apart from midfielder Alfarico Lance Liau (also from Keningau), in the JWC team.