New shine for Razak Cup

By K. Kandiah
nstsport@nstp.com.my

THE Razak Cup North and Central Zone Qualifiers will kick off this weekend with the top two teams from each zone qualifying for Division One action, while the others will play in Division Two in Malacca on July 20-30.
Penang HA secretary V. Jayanandhan said the Razak Cup will take a different format this year where the competition's first round will be played on a zonal basis.
"The Razak Cup tournament is the premier hockey competition in the country, but sadly it is slowly losing importance and popularity.
"So the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) has come up with this format to make the competition relevant and also popular among hockey enthusiasts, state associations and players.
"The competition is divided into five zones and will be held on a two-leg format, after which the top two from each zone will play in Division One while the other teams will play in Division Two at the national level tournament in Malacca in July," he said.
Jayanandhan said MHF will pay a subsidy of RM1,000 per game for every game played at the zone level and also an additional incentive of RM5,000 and RM3,000 for teams who qualify for Division One and Division Two respectively.
This is the first time MHF is making a two-tier payment to teams competing in the Razak Cup.
The north zone comprises Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Armed Forces while the central zone will have Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and the National Under-16 team.
The south zone is made up of Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor and Singapore while the east zone has Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Police.
The East Malaysia zone has Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.
Armed Forces and hosts Penang are expected to top the table in the north zone tournament.
The hosts will open their campaign against Perlis while Armed Forces will play their opening match against Kedah at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Hockey Stadium in Penang.
The return leg will be held at the Sultan Abdul Halim Shah Hockey Stadium in Sungai Petani on June 24-26.
FIXTURES -- NORTH ZONE (all matches at the USM Stadium) Today: Penang v Perlis (5pm), Armed Forces v Kedah (7pm).
Tomorrow: Penang v Armed Forces (5pm), Perlis v Kedah (7pm).
Sunday: Perlis v Armed Forces (5pm), Penang v Kedah (7pm).
CENTRAL ZONE (All matches at the Ministry of Education Pitch) -- Today: Perak v Kuala Lumpur (6.30pm), Selangor v Project 2017 (8.30pm).
Tomorrow: Kuala Lumpur v Project 2017 (6.30pm), Selangor v Perak (8.30pm).
Sunday: Perak v Project 2017 (6.30pm), Kuala Lumpur v Selangor (8.30pm).