Rajan to lead 2009 World Cup team

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) council recently endorsed K. Rajan as the new National Juniors coach following the resignation of V. Muraleedharan.
Rajan has been entrusted to whip up a team for the 2009 Junior World Cup, which Malaysia and Singapore will be co-hosting.
“I have selected eight new faces from the Razak Cup, including Negri Sembilan’s (G. Kavin Kartik) 16-year-old boy who played very well in the tournament,” said Rajan.
“We have started training, and I will continue even during the fasting month to build their fitness which was lacking during the Razak Cup.”
Rajan also plans to blood the juniors in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) which starts on Oct 10. “It will be good for the juniors to play in the tough MHL, I believe they will pick up some valuable pointers.”
The Junior World Cup will be held on June 7-21 with 20 teams competing in four groups.
Meanwhile, MHF secretary Sgt Hashim Yusoff confirmed yesterday that the parent body is still interested in hiring Korean Kim Sang Ryul as a consultant for the juniors and seniors.
“Kim is now free (after coaching China men’s team for the Beijing Olympics) and we have approached him to train our players on a consultant basis,” said Hashim.
“He has yet to reply, but we hope he can come and help (seniors coach) Sarjit Singh and Rajan as a consultant because both the sides have major assignments next year.” While the juniors will be involved in the World Cup, the seniors will play in the Asia Cup, which is a qualifier for the 2010 New Delhi World Cup.
THE MHF will hold its next council meeting on Sept 20 to submit its accounts and prepare for elections.
Nominations for the biennial elections open on Oct 3 and will close on Oct 25.