N. Thanabalan
Active Malaysian footballer
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Thanabalan a/l Nadarajah (Malay pronunciation: [ʈhaɳa]; born 25 February 1995) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as forward for Malaysia M3 League side Harini FT.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thanabalan a/l Nadarajah[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 25 February 1995[2] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia[3][4] | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[5] | |||||||||||||
| Positions | ||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Harini FT | |||||||||||||
| Number | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Negeri Sembilan U-21[6] | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2013–2018 | Negeri Sembilan | 33 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2017 | → Felcra (loan) | 12 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Kedah | 12 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2020 | → Perak II (loan) | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Sabah | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2023- | Harini FT | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Malaysia U-19 | 8 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Malaysia U-23 | 21 | (11) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 October 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20 January 2018 | ||||||||||||||
Career
As a child Thanabalan regularly played football at school field of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil, Sungai Gadut, Seremban while trained by his own father.[7] He later furthered his education at Tunku Ismail Sports School in Johor.[8]
In 2013, Thanabalan signed a five-year contract with Negeri Sembilan. He was listed to the senior team in 2013 season and was given the number 28 jersey. He made his debut in a 2-0 home defeat against Pahang on 22 May 2013, coming in as substitute in the 68th minute replacing Nazrin Nawi.[9] He also featured for the Negeri Sembilan U-21 in the Malaysia President's Cup.
In 2014 Thanabalan made his first ever league start for Negeri Sembilan against DRB-Hicom on 24 January 2014. He played for 68 minutes before being replaced by Fauzi Nan.[10]
During the 2015 season, Thanabalan was allocated the number 33 shirt. Thanabalan made his first appearance of the 2015 season as a substitute in Negeri Sembilan's opening Liga Premier match, a 1–1 draw at home against Kuantan.[11] He made 14 appearances and scored 3 goals.[12]
Thanabalan was loaned to FELCRA in 2017. He made his debut against Penjara FC in the 2017 Malaysia FA Cup. He made 13 appearances and scored 5 goals. He returned to Negeri Sembilan in 2018 and made 12 appearances scoring 3 goals.
In 2019, he transferred to Kedah.[13] He made his debut in a 1-1 draw against Perak on 8 February 2019. He also won the 2019 Malaysia FA Cup and made 3 appearances in the competition.
In the 2020 season, Thanabalan was loaned to Perak II. He made his debut in a 2-2 draw against Sarawak United on 29 August 2020.
After his contract ended with Kedah, Thanabalan joined Borneo-based club Sabah and made a reunion with former Malaysia youth coach, Ong Kim Swee. He made 10 appearances in all competitions for Sabah in 2021.[14]
In 2023 he joined second tier Malaysia M3 League side Harini FT,[15] alongside few others ex Malaysia national team players.
International career
Thanabalan was capped at youth level with Malaysia. He made 6 appearances and 4 goals in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.[16] He also played in the final against Thailand which Malaysia lost 0–1 due to an own goal scored by Malaysian keeper Haziq Nadzli.[17] Thanabalan was part of the national team that qualified for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship that took place in China and he scored 2 goals in 3 appearances during the qualification matches.[18]
Personal life
Originated from Kampung Sagga,[19] Rantau in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Thanabalan the oldest child of S. Nadarajah, who is paralysed from the chest down following a road accident in 2013 and V. Thirusundari who is a housewife.[20][21] He has a younger brother and a younger sister, Keeteswaran and Keerthikaa. His cousin, R.Sasikumar, plays for Kampung Rawa FC as a passing midfielder.[22]
Career statistics
Club
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Malaysia | League | FA Cup | Malaysia Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
| 2013 | Negeri Sembilan | Malaysia Super League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |
| 2014 | Malaysia Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | Malaysia Premier League | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 1[a] | 0 | 16 | 3 | ||
| 2016 | Malaysia Premier League | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | Malaysia Super League | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 0[b] | 0 | 12 | 3 | ||
| Total | 33 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 6 | ||
| 2017 | Felcra FC (loan)[26] | Malaysia FAM League | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 5 | ||
| Total | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 5 | ||||
| 2019 | Kedah | Malaysia Super League | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 17 | 1 | |
| Total | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 17 | 1 | |||
| 2020 | Perak II | Malaysia Premier League | 7 | 0 | – | – | – | 7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 7 | 0 | – | – | – | 7 | 0 | |||||
| 2021 | Sabah | Malaysia Super League | 2 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Malaysia Super League | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | – | 16 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 69 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 90 | 12 | ||
- Appearances in 2015 Piala Malaysia play-off.[25]
- Appearances in 2018 Malaysia Challenge Cup
Honours
Club
- Kedah
- Malaysia FA Cup: 2019
- Malaysia Cup: Runner-up 2019
International
Malaysia U-23
