All hands on Juniors

21/12/2000

THE national juniors played a friendly against Bank Simpanan Nasional at
Bukit Jalil Hockey Stadium and the army of coaches and team managers who
turned up would have surprised even the hardened hockey fan.
The Phase Two selection team aside, Coach of the Year Stephen van
Huizen, Yahya Atan, Wallace Tan and the Bukit Jalil Sports School coach
looked like mother hens trying to protect their chicks.
Their overzealousness is understandable because assembled yesterday was
the future of Malaysian hockey.
Ten juniors were dropped after Phase One - goalkeeper Faizal Aziz
Ibrahim, defenders Norzaiful Rizal, M. Mani Kumaran, S. Vengades,
S.Nagaraju, centrehalves P.Prem Kumar and Che Rezuan Che Ismail and
strikers Omar Hafiz, Mohamed Dasuki Zin and M. Sathian Krishna.
"The 32 players selected for Phase Two will not only play in the 2001
Junior World Cup in Hobart but will also form the core for the 2002 World
Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
"That is why we have placed special emphasis on their progress," said
Malaysian HF deputy president Datuk Seri P. Alagendra after the selection
yesterday.
Promising centrehalf Prem Kumar was dropped because of a knee injury and
the doctors say he will not be 100 per cent ready for the Junior World Cup
in October.
Other than Kumar, those retained were quite predictable as they have
enjoyed a good year playing in the Malaysia Hockey League. Yesterday,
regular Chua Booon Huat strengthened his claim as a future replacement for
specialist S. Kuhan when he flicked home a penalty corner set-piece in the
first few minutes of play to pressure the star-studded BSN attack of
Mirnawan Nawawi and Dhanaraj Pillay.
"The trainees will enjoy a break from today (yesterday) until after Hari
Raya and the actual crunch will start in February after the MHL ends when
the 24 juniors playing in the League return for fulltime training," said
Alagendra.
In mid-February, the French national team will be in town to play eight
friendlies against the seniors and juniors. Then in early April, they will
head for Hobart, Tasmania for three weeks to get acclimatised and play in
the Arafura Games, which will be held in Darwin in May.
In June, the senior and junior squads will head for South Korea and MHF
are liaising with their Korean counterparts to arrange for a string of
matches.
A month later, the juniors will be off to Germany to get used to playing
under pressure against some of the best in the world. On Aug 2-12, there
is the Azlan Shah Cup which will see at least eight juniors in action.
"We are also trying to arrange for a Four-Nation after the Azlan Shah
but that is still subject to confirmation."
In September, Malaysia will play in the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games where
they are sure bets to to retain the gold medal won in Brunei two years
ago.
"The Junior World Cup is on Oct 9-20 and by then, our players, eight of
whom are 16-years-old, should be more confident of themselves against New
Zealand, Germany and Argentina in Group D," said Alagendra.
The itinerary is impressive, the string of coaches second to none, and
MHF have pledged to leave no stone unturned to mount a serious challenge.
Now the onus is squarely on those selected. PHASE TWO
Goalkeepers: Shaiful Azhar Afendi, Timothy Lopez, Mohamed Firdauz
Razali; Defenders: Redzuan Ponirin, S. Shankar, Mohamed Amin Rahim, V.
Vinodhan, Abdul Shukor Adam, Razlan Mohamed Radzi, Razalee Yahya, Shahzan
Amir, Norhanafi Omar, Norhisham Shaari.
Centrehalves: Chua Boon Huat, Jiwa Mohan, A. Nagarajan, Maswardi
Shahrudin, Mohamed Sukri Mutalib, P. Prabahkaran, Jivan Mohan, Mohamed
Suffian Mohamed.
Forwards: Logan Raj, Nor Azlan Rahim, Tajol Rosli, Mohamed Fairus Ramli,
Zaharin Zakaria, Mohamed Fakhrulrazi, Azlan Misron, Mohamed Hashim Rahmat,
Mohamed Fairus Hamsani, Mohamed Zaki Janhari, Mohamed Izwan Hassan.
(END)