Youth for Four Nations

23/05/2002

THE national team for the Four-Nation in Australia was named yesterday and
the good news is that a refreshing number of young players have been
brought into the squad.
The tournament, scheduled for May 30-June 9, will be played in Adelaide
and Melbourne.
After the retirement of Mirnawan Nawawi, S. Shanker, Maninderjit Singh,
Nashihin Nubli and Nor Azlan Bakar, coach Paul Lissek was forced to name a
young squad who could face a tough time against the more experienced
players from Australia, India and South Korea.
S. Kumar will stand between the posts with regular keeper Roslan
Jamaluddin while the new players are Ismail Abu, Mohamed Fikri Bassar,
Megat Azrafiq Termizi, Mohamed Fakhrulrazi and V. Vinodhan.
Ismail, Fikri and Megat, who played in the 2001 Junior Hockey League,
have just returned from an under-18 tournament in Myanmar while Vinodhan,
dropped from the Junior World Cup in Hobart last year, has made a strong
comeback.
Despite Chairil Anwar, Riduan Nasir and Rodhanizam Radzi leading the
strikeforce, little can be expected from the team during the tournament.
But more important is the exposure they will get ahead of September's
Asian Games in Busan.
The national training squad has been trimmed to 25 and those dropped for
the Four-Nation are Khairul Nizzam Ibrahim (goalkeeper), Mohamed Supian,
(defender), Mohamed Razi (midfield), Shaiful Azli (midfield), Zulkifli
Rejab (midfield), Fairuz Ramli (forward) and Tajol Rosli (forward).
The Malaysian Hockey Federation has selected Yahya Atan as team manager
while the umpire on duty will be K. Kanaisan.
National team - Goalkeepers: S. Kumar, Roslan Jamaluddin.
Defenders: K. Gobinathan, Ismail Abu, S. Kuhan, Megat Azrafiq Termizi,
Mohamed Amin Rahim, Redzuan Ponirin.
Midfielders: Azlan Misron, K. Keevan Raj, Mohamed Fakhrulrazi, Mohamed
Fikri Bassar, Mohamed Madzli Ikmar, Norazlan Rahim, V. Vinodhan.
Forwards: Chairil Anwar, Riduan Nasir, Rodhanizam Radzi.
Manager: Yahya Atan; Coach: Paul Lissek, Tai Beng Hai; Physiotherapist:
Mokhtar Lassim; Umpire: K. Kanaisan.
(END)