All bets on KL

18/10/2002

THE 40th Razak Cup begins next week but most teams have already resigned
to the fact that Kuala Lumpur will again lift the title which they won in
2000.
Kuala Lumpur are expected to parade a host of national players, like
they did in the last edition.
The only team which gave them a tough fight two years ago the national
juniors who will again feature in the 11-team championship.
The other teams for the Razak Cup are Malacca, Penang, Perak, Selangor,
Armed Forces, Johor, Kedah, Negri Sembilan and Pahang.
In the 39th edition, the National Juniors drew 3-3 with Kuala Lumpur in
the preliminaries and then lost 2-1 to a sudden death goal which was
scored by S. Kuhan, who skippered the recent Asian Games bronze winning
side.
The Razak Cup has taken a backseat as compared to the Malaysia Hockey
League and the National Junior League but the Malaysian Hockey Federation
are going through great pains to revive it.
And the participation of the national juniors is a must.
"The National Juniors made a great impact in the last Razak Cup and we
have again slotted them in for the experience of playing against senior
players," said S. Satgunam yesterday.
"The current Under-18 squad who are preparing for the Junior World Cup
qualifier scheduled for 2004 will find the Razak Cup experience an eye-
opener," said Satgunam.
The Razak Cup is scheduled on Oct 23-31 at the National Hockey Stadium
in Bukit Jalil instead of Tun Razak Stadium as earlier planned.
"Eventhough the cost of booking pitches will be much higher at the
National Hockey Stadium, we were left with no choice because there will be
quite a number of matches to be played daily and we need two pitches," he
said.
Selangor have conducted two trials so far for the Razak Cup and the
turnout has been good.
"More than 30 players turned out for the two trials but we will only
finalise the team tomorrow (today) after the last trials today
(yesterday)," said Selangor stand-in manager Joseph de Silva.
Selangor will be coached by Abdul Rahim Ahmad and their team manager is
Sharif Yusof.
"Our trials have attracted a number of ex-internationals like Chitti
Babu and R. Shanker and also a mixture of youth from the recent Malaysia
Games squad.
"We have confirmed two national junior goalkeepers so far and they are
Saiful Azahar and Mohd Firdaus Razali. We have also approached national
player Mohamed Amin Rahim, who will let us know soon whether he will be
playing for Selangor," said Joseph.
Amin was a key player in the Busan Asian Games and his inclusion will
give Selangor an added bite. Selangor are also looking at former Bank
Simpanan Nasional players I. Vikneswaran and R. Vijiyan to beef up their
centre.
"We do not have a good side to lift the title, but we will give Kuala
Lumpur and the rest of the aspiring teams a good fight," said Joseph.
(END)