A glimmer of hope

THE 19th edition of the Azlan Shah Cup could either turn into an Asia bashing exercise, or a chance for Asian teams to finally beat World No 1 Australia.
Australia are fresh from their World Cup victory over Germany, after losing to the same country in two previous editions, but the fact that they will be fielding only four of those who lifted the coveted trophy has made the other six aspirants more confident.
However, the early indications are that South Korea could be the only side who would trouble the world champions, while Malaysia and the rest will find the going sticky.
Asian champions Korea, defending Azlan Shah Cup champions India, runners-up Malaysia, Pakistan, China and African champions Egypt will be out for the Australia’s scalps, but might get burnt in the process.
“We have purposefully chosen a young squad for this tournament. It will go a long way in exposing our squad to a number of quality teams, giving us even more experience and help add to the depth of our squad,” Australian coach Ric Charlesworth had said.
Charlesworth is more bent on finding new talent for the Champions Trophy, and his young guns know they will have to come out blazing in every match as the competition to break into the senior side is intense.
Among the Aussie hopefuls who will be out to impress are Matt Gohdes, Jason Wilson, Glenn Simpson and Ian Burcher.
For the Asian teams, the Asian Games is their end target as a gold there will mean automatic qualification for the 2012 London Olympics, so not much should be read from victories and defeats at the Azlan Shah Cup.