Nur Ikhmal Damit

Muhammad Nur Ikhmal bin Damit (born 5 March 1993) is a Bruneian footballer who plays for Indera SC of the Brunei Super League and also the Brunei national football team as a midfielder.[1] One of the most stalwart players to have ever worn the yellow jersey, Ikhmal is a regular for the Wasps in all age categories.

In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Damit is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Nur Ikhmal.
Nur Ikhmal
Personal information
Full name Muhammad Nur Ikhmal bin Damit
Date of birth (1993-03-05) 5 March 1993
Place of birth Brunei
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Indera SC
Number 12
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011 Brunei Youth Team
2012–2015 MS ABDB (0)
2015– Indera SC (2)
National team‡
2013–2019 Brunei U23 13 (0)
2016– Brunei 3 (0)
2018 Brunei U21 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 November 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 December 2019

Club career

As a youngster, Ikhmal made appearances for the Brunei Youth Team in the Premier League II in 2011.[2] Afterwards he joined MS ABDB, the football team of his then-employer, the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.[3] He debuted with the team at the September 2012 Brunei Darussalam National Games and won gold, scoring the winner against Brunei-Muara district in the semi-final.[4][5] MS ABDB also won the 2012 Brunei FA Cup that December but Ikhmal was not in the matchday squad.[6]

Ikhmal played in the first ever game of the Brunei Super League, a 2–1 victory against MS PDB on 14 December 2012.[7][8] He made six further league appearances that season, finishing in second place and losing out to Indera FC via goal difference.[9] After taking a sabbatical from the 2014 Brunei Super League, Ikhmal reappeared for the army's National Games squad and won his second gold medal in the football category.[10][11]

Ikhmal played in the final of the 2014-15 Brunei FA Cup on 4 January 2015 and was victorious on the night with a 2–0 scoreline over Najip FC.[12] Although he was registered with MS ABDB for the 2015 season,[13] his commitments for the national team restricted his playing time and by the second half of the season he transferred to defending champions Indera SC.[14]

Ikhmal's new team eventually finished second in the league,[15] then competed against the new champions MS ABDB in the final of the 2015 FA Cup.[16] Ikhmal started the match and scored in injury time against his former team but it was scant consolation as the Armymen won 3–2 in the end.[17]

Ikhmal received a third FA Cup winner's medal after Indera's 2–0 win over MS PDB in the final of the 2017-18 FA Cup on 1 April 2018.[18]

International career

Ikhmal has represented Brunei since 2010 when he was sent to South Korea for the 38th Asian Schools Football Championship (which ultimately Brunei could not participate after their arrival due to the country's suspension from FIFA).[19][20] He was in contention for a place in the team for the December 2013 SEA Games held in Myanmar and featured in a friendly against Indonesia U23 the previous August, but was not selected.[21]

Ikhmal became an integral player for the under-23s in 2015, featuring in all three games at the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualifying held in Indonesia in March.[22] Two months later, he departed to Singapore with the same squad for the 28th SEA Games.[23] He played in four out of 5 games as Brunei lost every fixture in the football category.[24]

Ikhmal was called up to the senior squad for the 2016 AFF Championship qualification matches on October in Cambodia, as well as the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup in Malaysia the following month.[25] He made his international debut in a 2–1 victory over Timor-Leste on 15 October.[26] He also started against Cambodia three days later but this time the hosts rant out as 0–3 victors.[27] Picking up an injury in that game, he then made only one substitute appearance at the inaugural Solidarity Cup, with the Wasps finishing fourth at the end of the AFC-sanctioned tournament.[28]

The following year, Ikhmal joined up with the national team under Stephen Ng Heng Seng for the 2017 Aceh World Solidarity Tsunami Cup.[29] The charity meet was initially billed as a FIFA 'A'-international standard tournament before being changed to an under-23 tournament.[30] After defeats against hosts Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan,[31] Brunei's final game against Mongolia was cancelled due to bad weather.[32]

Ikhmal was selected for the 2018 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy as one of the three overage players allowed for the under-21 tournament, along with Yura Indera Putera Yunos and Razimie Ramlli.[33] Ikhmal played all three group matches but only clocked 180 minutes - he was a second-half substitute in the first game and was taken off after half time in the last game.[34][35]

Ikhmal accepted a callup by the national team for the two-legged 2022 World Cup qualification matches against Mongolia in June 2019.[36] He did not see playing time as Robbie Servais preferred Yura Indera Putera Yunos and Shah Razen Said in the central midfield roles. Later that year Ikhmal was selected as one of two overage players in the Brunei under-22 squad for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.[37]

Honours
MS ABDB
Indera SC

Personal life

Ikhmal works as a facility manager at Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College, alongside club and country teammate Asri Aspar.[38]

References
  1. "MS ABDB lift DST Sumbangsih Cup". The Brunei Times. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  2. "BYT force draw". The Brunei Times. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  3. "MS ABDB - SKBD 2012". Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  4. "Armymen inch closer to scoring Games gold". The Brunei Times. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  5. "Armymen clinch gold". The Brunei Times. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  6. "MS ABDB vs INDERA SC MATCH REPORT". Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  7. "MS ABDB beat MS PDB 2-1 in 1st DST Super League match". Borneo Bulletin. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  8. "MS PDB vs MS ABDB MATCH FACT". Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  9. "Indera SC take home the hardware". The Brunei Times. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  10. "MS ABDB FINAL LIST". Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  11. "MS ABDB - football kings". The Brunei Times. 6 December 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  12. "MS ABDB champions". The Brunei Times. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  13. "MS ABDB". National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  14. "ISC FIRST TEAM 2015". Indera Sports Club. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  15. "Indera naib juara Liga Super". Media Permata. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  16. "Stage set for DST FA Cup final". Borneo Bulletin. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  17. "MS ABDB retain DST FA Cup". Borneo Bulletin. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  18. "Indera create history by winning DST FA Cup". Borneo Bulletin. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  19. http://www.footjuniors.com/Tournois/Asean/PHOTOLARGE/Asean2010_Brunei_1.JPG
  20. "Under-18 team barred in Korea Fifa suspension". The Brunei Times. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  21. "SEA GAMES 2013: ANDRI GIVES INDONESIA WIN IN JOJGA". ASEAN Football Federation. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  22. "Indonesia U-23 Menang 2-0 Atas Brunei U-23". CNN Indonesia. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  23. "Manager calls for total commitment". The Brunei Times. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  24. "Brunei go down to M'sia". The Brunei Times. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  25. "Brunei to 'treat each match like final'". Borneo Bulletin. 1 November 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  26. "BRUNEI VS. TIMOR-LESTE 2 - 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  27. "Cambodia Ease Past Brunei in AFF Qualifier". Borneo Bulletin. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  28. "Coach Kwon Grateful for AFC Solidarity Cup". Borneo Bulletin. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  29. "WASPS OFF TO ACEH WORLD SOLIDARITY CUP". BruSports News. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  30. "Announcement: 2017 Tsunami Cup is Officially Under-23 Tournament". Mongolian Football Central. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  31. "Brunei fall to Kyrgyzstan 4-0". Borneo Bulletin. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  32. "SERVAIS CALLS FOR ORGANISATION AND DISCIPLINE FROM WASPS". BruSports News. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  33. "BRU - 2018 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy". Information Department, Prime Minister's Office of Brunei. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  34. "BRU vs TLS - 2018 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy". Information Department, Prime Minister's Office of Brunei. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  35. "BRU vs MYA - 2018 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy". Information Department, Prime Minister's Office of Brunei. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  36. "Brunei football team in China for training camp". Borneo Bulletin. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  37. "BRUNEI SEA GAMES FOOTBALL TEAM EASE PAST DPMM FC U-19 IN FRIENDLY". BruSports News. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  38. "Bahagian Bangunan dan Pemeliharaan Kawasan". Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
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