Kuhan down with hamstring injury

11/01/2002

MALAYSIA'S penalty corner specialist S. Kuhan is down with a hamstring
injury and the prospect of him playing in the two Test matches against
Pakistan on Jan 15 and 16 look bleak.
Yesterday, Kuhan watched from the stands with an ice-pack tied at the
side of his left knee while the rest of the national players trained for
the Six-Nation which begins on Jan 18 at the National Hockey Stadium in
Bukit Jalil.
"I stretched my hamstring during training on Wednesday and after
checking with Dr Ramlan Aziz (National Sports Institute director), I was
told to rest," said Kuhan yesterday.
Dr Ramlan will conduct a scan on Saturday and on Monday Kuhan will
undergo a sprints test to check the extent of his injury.
But national chief coach Paul Lissek is not optimistic about Kuhan
playing a big role in the Six-Nation.
"It does not look promising because even if he recovers a little on
Monday, a hamstring injury is very dangerous and with the World Cup just
44 days away it will be too risky to field him for the two Test matches
against Pakistan.
"From there on, I will let Dr Ramlan decide on the next course of
action," said Lissek.
With Kuhan in doubt for the Six-Nation, a spanner has been thrown in our
penalty corner set-pieces because he is the vital link to goals in that
section.
"If he is not available, we have contigency plans to fill the midfield
position and we do have capable replacements for penalty corners. But he
does need the matches in the Six-Nation to prepare for the World Cup,"
said Lissek.
National team manager Datuk R. Yogeswaran was more optimistic about
Kuhan playing in the Six-Nation which involves Pakistan, World Cup
champions Holland, Champions Trophy runnersup Australia, Japan and New
Zealand.
"It is a normal injury suffered by athletes who are training for a big
event like the World Cup. Sometimes, they tend to make an extra effort in
training but end up injured instead. But I have spoken to the Dr (Ramlan)
and the initial feeling is that there is nothing serious and he will be up
and about in no time at all," said Yogeswarn.
Jiva Mohan is the other injured player who has still to recover and
yesterday, he was seen doing some light training and helping out by
pushing in the ball for his team-mates to practice attacking set-pieces.
Mirnawan Nawawi looked like he has fully recovered from the muscle tear
which he suffered becofe the Champions Challenge and was his usual self.
"Mirnawan has recovered from his injury and is looking dangerous now.
You can see that he is more confident with short sprints because the
muscle tear is now history," said Yogeswaran.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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