Cup gaining recognition

15/03/2003

THE Azlan Shah Cup, incepted in 1983, is fast gaining recognition by the
FIH as being among the premier invitational tournaments in the world.
The 12th edition of the tournament in Ipoh on March 22-30 promises yet
another hockey fest with the best in Asia pitting their skills against
world champions Germany - with the fans in Ipoh getting to watch the
matches for free.
"The Azlan Shah Cup is fast becoming a premier tournament and this year the teams are preparing for either the Champions Challenge in South Africa on July 19-27 or the Athens Olympics Qualifiers," said Malaysian Hockey Federation secretary S. Satgunam.
Satgunam refuted claims that the tournament is costing RM1 million to
organise.
"It is not true that the tournament needs RM1 million to organise. In
fact, we only need about RM450,000 to bring top class hockey to our
backyard and the MHF has always made a profit from organising it. We only provide board and lodging, the teams take care of their own travel costs," said Satgunam.
In the first edition in 1983, the champions were Australia and runners-
up Pakistan.
Malaysia's best finish was in the second edition in 1985 when we lost to
India in the final.
"The Azlan Shah Cup is a big boost for local hockey because we do not
need to travel to five countries to play against top hockey teams. It
saves travelling expenses and our umpires and officials gain from the
experience at home," said Satgunam.
Chief coach Paul Lissek was also of the same opinion.
"It is becoming increasingly difficult for Malaysia, who are in the
Champions Challenge ranks, to play against Champions Trophy teams like Holland, Germany, Pakistan, India and Australia simply because they know that they will be wasting their time as the outcome is very predictable.
"That is why the Azlan Shah Cup should be seen in a positive manner
because not only do we get to play against Germany, but also, have the
opportunity to play Test matches before the Azlan Shah Cup," said Lissek.
Lissek had tried to arrange at least three Test matches against Germany
in the middle-of-the-year European Tour, but his efforts failed.
"Germany only want to play one Test match against us in Europe, for the
other two matches, they will be fielding their juniors because their
seniors will not benefit much from playing a lower-ranked team. It was
only for courtesy sake that they entertained our request," said Lissek.
The Germans, champions in 1987 and 2001, will be playing in their
seventh Azlan Shah Cup. The hockey world waits to see what they are
capable of after showing awesome form to lift the Kuala Lumpur World Cup last year.
The South Koreans are another team which cannot be taken lightly as they were champions in 1996 and finished runners-up in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
(END)