Juniors not ready for world stage

01/09/2002

THE National Under-18 team, which won the FIH World Youth Festival title
in Poznan, Poland recently, is still not ready to take the international
scene by storm.
Team manager Poon Fook Loke said yesterday that although they have
progressed in the right direction by winning gold, the boys are still raw
material.
"We have to put in a lot of work before this team can be considered
ready for the 2005 Junior World Cup challenge," said Poon.
The Malaysian juniors beat Germany twice, once in the preliminaries (2-
1) and then the final (3-1), and according to Poon, the formula was simple
- the boys were told to break away from the rigid German style and
maximise flair.
"Before we went to Poland, coach Stephen van Huizen and I agreed that we
would not restrict the boys and allow them to dribble in the semicircle.
It worked wonders as the German and Polish players did not know how to
stop individual flair," said Poon.
They were also told to utilise back-passes only when in dire straits.
"Too many unnecessary back-passes has hampered development of hockey in
this country so we opted for German defensive play with individual
attacking flair and it worked as the boys enjoyed themselves and won gold
in the process," said Poon.
The 70s' `dribbling terror' then met chief coach Paul Lissek and told
the German to allow the senior side to utilise their flair in the five
Test matches in China.
"Before the team left for China yesterday (on Saturday), I met Paul and
told him not to bench players who dribble because it is hampering
progress. He agreed to try the Asian style in the China Tests," said Poon.
The `new discoveries' made in Poland are Mohamed Sallehin Ghani, Mohamed
Sukri Nabil and Mohamed Shahrun Nabil.
"Three players made a great impact (Sallehin, Sukri and Shahrun) as they
controlled the midfield and the right and left flanks very well to feed
the forwards.
"Tengku (Ahmad Tajuddin), Fairuz (Hamsani) and Al-Fadhir (Kassim) were
let loose in the semicircle and the skills they displayed were simply
awsome. I feel that if they are allowed to play their own game, they will
turn out to be among the best forwards in the country," said Poon.
Right now, the Under-18 team has been `disbanded' for the Malaysia Games
in Sabah after which they are slated to take part in the Razak Cup.
"The team badly needs exposure and we plan to pit them against other
States in the Razak Cup. Initially, they were supposed to play in a Five-
Nation at the end of the year but the plan was shelved to next year.
"And after the Five-Nation, plans have been drawn to give them maximum
exposure leading to the 2004 Junior World Cup qualifiers," said Poon.
The 2005 Junior World Cup Training Squad - goalkeepers: Nurul Fakhri
Alias, Ahmad Bazli Razali; defenders: Bubalan Sandrakasi, Norhisham
Shaari, Mohamed Sallehin Ghani, Engku Abdul Malik; midfield: B.
Chandramohan, Mohamed Sukri Nabil, Mohamed Shahrun Nabil, Abbas Nekmat,
Mohamed Supian, Azli Misron, Mohamed Anwar Ali; forwards: Tengku Ahmad
Tajuddin, Fairuz Hamsani, Mohamed Al-Fadhir Kassim, Mohamed Izuan Hassan,
Mohamed Razie Rahim.
(END)