STATES will have two added reasons to do well in the Malaysian Hockey
Federation-National Sports Council Under-21 tournament at the National
Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil starting today.
Australia have sent their New South Wales AIS team while Singapore are
the other foreign team looking to lift the 21 title on Malaysian soil.
Both sides are extremely serious as they are preparing for the 2005 Junior
World Cup qualifiers.
Lest Malaysia forget, we failed to qualify for the 1997 edition in
Milton Keynes, England after finishing fourth in the Asia Junior Cup in
Singapore in 1996.
The matches will be the first step for Malaysia to assemble a team good
enough to qualify and erase the humiliating 12th place finish in Hobart,
Tasmania in 2001.
All the national juniors have returned to their respective States to
play in the under-21 tournament which means they are evenly spread out.
Kuala Lumpur have the lion's share and expectations are high that the
defending champions will retain the title.
Kuala Lumpur have Tajol Rosli and Azlan Misron, who both played in the
Kuala Lumpur World Cup last year, to lead the charge and coach Nor Saiful
Zaini is confident he has the players to lift the title.
"We must lift the Under-21 title because KL have the cream of Malaysian
juniors. If we do not, something is wrong with the selection process,"
said Nor Saiful on Saturday.
KL, in Group A, also have Tasmania Junior World Cup goalkeeper Firdaus
Razali, and seven players who took played in the recent Four-Nation
International in KL.
The seven are Kelvinder Singh, Redza Maadun, Azlan, Fairuz Hamsani,
Fakhrulrazi Baharuddin, Engku Malek Engku Mohamed and Izwan Hassan.
Pahang, in Group B, will be able to utilise the four players who
declined national duty and who were subsequently barred from the Junior
Hockey League.
Shahrun Nabil Abdullah, Ismail Abu, Sallehin Ghani and Suffian Mohammad
will strenghten the Pahang side and the east coast State is expected to
give the rest of the teams in Group B a run for their money.
Perak, the State that has consistantly produced national players, were
hit hard when defender Shukri Mutalib pulled out as his parents want him
to report to the Bandar Penawar Sports School after he missed classes when
playing in the Under-19 Four-Nation recently.
Then, forward Fairuz Hamsani decided to ditch them and play for Kuala
Lumpur and defender S. Bubalam has yet to recover from the back injury
picked up during the Four-Nation.
Pool A: Armed Forces, Johor, Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Perak,
Singapore.
Pool B: Negri Sembilan, NSW AIS, Pahang, Penang, Perlis, Selangor.
Today - Selangor v Perlis (8am), Kelantan v Malacca (8.30am), Penang v
Negri Sembilan (4pm), Singapore v Armed Forces (4.30pm), Pahang v NSW AIS
(6pm), Kuala Lumpur v Johor (6.30pm).
Tomorrow - Perak v Singapore (8am), Penang v Pahang (8.30am), Malacca v
Johor (4pm), Kuala Lumpur v Kelantan (4.30pm), NSW AIS v Selangor
(6.30pm).
(END)
Federation-National Sports Council Under-21 tournament at the National
Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil starting today.
Australia have sent their New South Wales AIS team while Singapore are
the other foreign team looking to lift the 21 title on Malaysian soil.
Both sides are extremely serious as they are preparing for the 2005 Junior
World Cup qualifiers.
Lest Malaysia forget, we failed to qualify for the 1997 edition in
Milton Keynes, England after finishing fourth in the Asia Junior Cup in
Singapore in 1996.
The matches will be the first step for Malaysia to assemble a team good
enough to qualify and erase the humiliating 12th place finish in Hobart,
Tasmania in 2001.
All the national juniors have returned to their respective States to
play in the under-21 tournament which means they are evenly spread out.
Kuala Lumpur have the lion's share and expectations are high that the
defending champions will retain the title.
Kuala Lumpur have Tajol Rosli and Azlan Misron, who both played in the
Kuala Lumpur World Cup last year, to lead the charge and coach Nor Saiful
Zaini is confident he has the players to lift the title.
"We must lift the Under-21 title because KL have the cream of Malaysian
juniors. If we do not, something is wrong with the selection process,"
said Nor Saiful on Saturday.
KL, in Group A, also have Tasmania Junior World Cup goalkeeper Firdaus
Razali, and seven players who took played in the recent Four-Nation
International in KL.
The seven are Kelvinder Singh, Redza Maadun, Azlan, Fairuz Hamsani,
Fakhrulrazi Baharuddin, Engku Malek Engku Mohamed and Izwan Hassan.
Pahang, in Group B, will be able to utilise the four players who
declined national duty and who were subsequently barred from the Junior
Hockey League.
Shahrun Nabil Abdullah, Ismail Abu, Sallehin Ghani and Suffian Mohammad
will strenghten the Pahang side and the east coast State is expected to
give the rest of the teams in Group B a run for their money.
Perak, the State that has consistantly produced national players, were
hit hard when defender Shukri Mutalib pulled out as his parents want him
to report to the Bandar Penawar Sports School after he missed classes when
playing in the Under-19 Four-Nation recently.
Then, forward Fairuz Hamsani decided to ditch them and play for Kuala
Lumpur and defender S. Bubalam has yet to recover from the back injury
picked up during the Four-Nation.
Pool A: Armed Forces, Johor, Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Perak,
Singapore.
Pool B: Negri Sembilan, NSW AIS, Pahang, Penang, Perlis, Selangor.
Today - Selangor v Perlis (8am), Kelantan v Malacca (8.30am), Penang v
Negri Sembilan (4pm), Singapore v Armed Forces (4.30pm), Pahang v NSW AIS
(6pm), Kuala Lumpur v Johor (6.30pm).
Tomorrow - Perak v Singapore (8am), Penang v Pahang (8.30am), Malacca v
Johor (4pm), Kuala Lumpur v Kelantan (4.30pm), NSW AIS v Selangor
(6.30pm).
(END)
