Six bound for German stint

31/12/1998

GERMANY is becoming a favourite training ground for Malaysian hockey
players.
If the latest arrangement by German coach Paul Lissek is accepted by the
Malaysian HF, six juniors from the Project 2001 squad will get the chance
to play in the German National Hockey League as well as in a Four-Nation
tournament next year.
Lissek, who whipped up a respectable Malaysian team in two months for
the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, wants to inculcate `German thinking'
in the Malaysian juniors to prepare them for the 2001 Junior World Cup.
"We received a fax from Lissek yesterday in which he proposed that six
juniors play in the German League to prepare for the Asian junior
championship in 2000 (which will also double up as the Junior World Cup
qualifiers in Malaysia)," said National Sports Council director general
Datuk Mazlan Ahmad.
"The NSC have agreed in principle to his suggestion."
The six to be recommended for the stint are Chua Boon Huat and Suhaimi
Ibrahim (Red and White Munich); K. Keevan Raj and K. Logan Raj
(Monchengladbach); Madzli Ikmar and Syayrim Uda Karim (Black and White
Neuss).
All the players featured in Lissek's Commonwealth Games training
programme although Madzli and Syayrim did not make the final 16.
Monchengladbach will be handled by Lissek, Red and White Munich by
German team manager Braum Gartner while Black and White Neuss by German HA
vice-president Walther Longess.
"All the teams are in the Division One Southern League and the plan is
similar to the one in 1997, which saw five seniors play with Germans
clubs.
"I believe the stint was furitful as the five seniors returned better
players.
"Right now, we have several players who might not be able to play for
the country in the near future, so we have decided to send the juniors
instead."
The six juniors will head for Germany in early March to prepare for the
first half of the League, which is from April to the end of May.
During the break, the players will return to Malaysia and train with the
national team from June to July.
At the end of July, they will return to Germany to play in the League as
well as in a Four-Nation tournament in England in August.
"Lissek has arranged for a Four-Nation among Malaysia, Germany, England
and Poland. The NSC will send 12 more players from the 2001 Project squad
to form a team for that tournament," said NSC hockey co-ordinator Ariffin
Ghani.
This will be the second attachment stint for national hockey players. In
the previous stint in 1997, S. Kuhan, R. Shankar, Kerpal Singh, Nor Azlan
Bakar and Chairil Anwar Aziz played in the three-month Bundesliga as part
of their preparations for the World Cup in Utrecht.
Malaysia failed to qualify for the Junior World Cup in Milton Keynes,
England last year for the first time after finishing fifth in the Asian
Junior Cup two years ago.
(END)