No prizes for guessing the team

29/11/2001

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) selectors will name the Champions
Challenge squad tomorrow, but it won't be very difficult to figure out who
will be on the final list of 18.
And MHF will have to enlist the help of eight juniors because some of
the seasoned players, like Chairil Anwar, are carrying injuries and will
surely miss the Challenge.
The Champions Challenge is on Dec 7-15 and other than hosts Malaysia,
the teams taking part are Argentina, South Africa, Japan, India and
Belgium. All six teams have qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Kuala
Lumpur on Feb 24-March 9 - so there is every likelihood that the 18
selected for the Challenge will also be in the World Cup squad as well.
After observing the team training for a month, the sure bets for the
Challenge are seniors Mirnawan Nawawi, S. Kuhan, Maninderjit Singh,
Norazlan Bakar, K. Keevan Raj, Razak Saidin, K. Gobinathan and Rodhanizam
Mat Radzi.
Mirnawan is the most versatile player on the team and is often looked to
by the others for guidance when they are in a tight spot, so it will be a
major surprise if MHF does not name him as the skipper of the national
team.
There are four goalkeepers in training right now but seniors Roslan
Jamaluddi and Nasihin Nubli are more experienced than S. Kumar and Mohamed
Firdaus Ramli, so the selectors will not have any problems in making their
choices.
Firdaus did show flashes of brilliance in the Junior World Cup in Hobart
recently, where he stopped four penalty strokes, and if the selectors lean
towards him, it will be because they want to groom a young hand.
"The selectors might lean towards some of the junior players because
they want to see some continuity and also expose them to a higher level of
hockey. But in the goalkeeping department, the time frame is too short to
test them out in the Champions Challenge," said an official who declined
to be named.
The eight juniors who have shown promise in training and have caught the
eye of the coaches by giving 100 per cent are Jiwa Mohan, S. Shanker, Chua
Boon Huat, K. Logan Raj, Redzuan Ponirin, Tajul Rosli, Azlan Misron,
Zaharin Zakariah.
The eight played in the Junior World Cup and although they had the skill
and fitness to play at that level, they lacked maturity to control their
anger and concentrate on the match at hand and not the surroundings.
Coaches Paul Lissek, Steven van Huizen and Yahya Atan have been working
on them since their return from Hobart and it will be interesting to see
how much they have learnt from the Hobart debacle, where they went in full
of hope, but finished 12th in the 16-team tournament.
On the injury list are Jivan Mohan, Norazlan Rahim, Mohamed Fairuz
Ramli, Chairil and Saiful Azli, while V. Vinodhan opted out to concentrate
on his studies.
Meanwhile, team manager Datuk R. Yogeswaran said that the national
trainees have shown some improvement since they started training under the
floodlights since Monday.
"I see a better structure in the team and the trainees seem to enjoy
playing at night because they have a longer break after the morning
session. Also, the attendance rate is very high because those who are
working have no problem making the 8-10pm sessions," said Yogeswaran.
When asked on the criteria for the Champions Challenge selection, Yoges
said: "We will surely look for a well-balanced team by including juniors
who have shown promise in training."
TIMESPORT'S PICK
Mirnawan Nawawi, Maninderjit Singh, S. Kuhan, Nor Azlan Bakar, Roslan
Jamaluddin (goalkeeper), Nasihin Nubli (goalkeeper), K. Keevan Raj, Razak
Saidin, K. Gobinathan, Rodhanizam Mat Radzi, Jiwa Mohan, S. Shanker, Chua
Boon Huat, K. Logan Raj, Redzuan Ponirin, Tajul Rosli, Azlan Misron,
Zaharin Zakariah.
* jugjet@nstp.com.my
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