Juniors against defending champions

NATIONAL Juniors will square off against defending cham pions Johor in Division One of the Razak Cup at the Tun Razak Stadium in Kuala Lumpur today.
The fixtures were redrawn, after Kedah and Pahang withdrew. Terengganu are also not in the fray, as the state claimed that they did not have enough money to send a team.
This has placed Singapore in Division Two.
"The Razak Cup is a perfect avenue for juniors, below 20 years-old, and not in the national training camp to impress selectors.
"We (the Malaysian Hockey Federation) are on the lookout to select more players to strengthen the (2009 Junior) World Cup training squad," said MHF vice-president Datuk Dr S.S. Cheema.
The National Juniors progress in the tournament will also be closely monitored, after they fared miserably in the recent Junior Asia Cup in Hyderabad.
And the MHF will not hesitate to axe juniors who show no progress while playing against state teams.
K. Rajan, appointed as interim coach after V. Muraleed haran resigned yesterday, will have his hands full, as Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Perak have many experienced current and former internationals in their squads.
And at the team managers meeting yesterday, there were plenty of arguments on release letters for players to rep resent other states.
"There was a healthy discussion, and every state produced release letters except for Johor who had wanted the services of brothers (K.) Logan Raj and Keevan Raj.
"But the duo did not have release letters from their state of birth (Malacca) so they were deemed as not eligible to represent Johor," said Cheema, who is also the MHF com petitions committee chairman.
DIVISION ONE: Armed Forces, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, National Juniors, Negri Sembilan, Perak.
DIVISION TWO: Kelantan, Police, Perlis, Penang, Selangor, Singapore.
TODAY: Division One -- Armed Forces v Negri Sembilan (4pm), Johor v National Juniors (6pm), Kuala Lumpur v Malacca (8pm).
Division Two: Kelantan v Selangor (7.30am), Police v Penang (9.15am).
Note: All matches at the Tun Razak Stadium, and entrance is free.