Poon: No respite for Juniors

04/11/2002

THE National Juniors will break camp for two weeks, but it is back to the
grind in the middle of the fasting month, as their target is to lift the
Under-19 Invitational International title on Jan 7-12 at the National
Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil.
Team manager Poon Fook Loke does not want to waste time as he feels that the Juniors are still not up to the mark eventhough they had a good outing in the Razak Cup and whipped Perak 8-0 to finish third.
"There are still many grey areas eventhough they have mastered the
basics. Tactical wise the team is solid, but they are still weak as far as
fitness and penalty corners are concerned," said Poon.
Fitness is still suspect though the Juniors move upfront at a furious
pace, because they are slow to drop back when there is a counterattack.
"The Razak Cup was a good experience because we discovered some
weaknesses in the team and can iron them out before the Under-19
Tournament where we hope to lift the title despite strong opposition,"
said Poon.
India, Pakistan, South Korea and Malaysia will be involved it the Four-
Nation. India, who lifted the Four-Nation Invitational title in Cairo
recently, will be the strongest side and Pakistan are also expected to be
a better side than the one which finished last in Cairo.
Pakistan were the table propers in the Akhbar El Youm Tournament in
Cairo behind champions India, France and hosts Egypt. The Pakistan juniors played so badly that they failed to score a single goal in the
competition.
But work has already started to restructure the team and prepare for the
Malaysian Under-19 Tournament, and team manager Col (rtd) Abdul Rauf has promised "A noticeable improvement in the performance of the boys in their next outing."
The Pakistan manager felt that the 18-member youth squad that played in Cairo needed about six to eight changes mostly in the attack and midfield
before they play in Malaysia.
"It has been verbally agreed by the Malaysian Hockey Federation that the
Juniors and Seniors will play a series of matches in Europe in either
April or May depending on the availablity of the other teams.
"I feel that this will give them a great boost in preparing for the 2004
Junior World Cup Qualifiers," said Poon.
Plans are also afoot to have more matches between the Seniors and the
Juniors after the boys gave the more experienced Kuala Lumpur side a scare in the semi-finals of the Razak Cup.
Malaysia had a torrid outing in the 2000 Junior World Cup in Tasmania,
but with proper planning and care, the present batch have what it takes to make a dent in the next Junior World Cup.
(END)