FOR Information/report on the National Under-21 hockey tournament which will start 14/06/2011 please go to... http://u21hockey.blogspot.com/
DEFENDING champions Malacca will lead seven other teams in the National Under-21 hockey tournament starting on Tuesday at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) decided to hold the Under-21 this year, also known as the Tan Sri Anwar Mohamed Nor Cup, as the sport was not included in the Malaysia Games fixtures.
However, only eight states showed interest, and this has baffled MHF.
“We decided to host the tournament after states made a request for it, as the Malaysia Games this year did not have hockey on its fixture.
“But the response was cold, as only eight teams registered even though we are offering RM5,000 to compete,” said MHF secretary Maninderjit Singh.
In Group A are Johor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang and Se langor; while in Group B are Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, and Perak.
The Project 2013 players, some of whom will head for Moscow for a Four-Nation on June, 20 could be the main fixtures for the states that they represent.
Selangor’s trump card could turn out to be Mohamed Nor Faez, who scored eight goals in eight matches in Project 2013’s recent playing Tour of Australia and New Zealand.
TUESDAY -- Group A: Johor v Pahang (5pm), Negri v Selangor (7pm); Group B: Kuala Lumpur v Penang (5pm), Malacca v Perak (7pm).
WEDNESDAY: Group A: Pahang v Selangor (5pm), Negri v Johor (7pm); Group B: Penang v Perak (5pm), Malacca v Kuala Lumpur (7pm).
NOTE: All matches at Taman Daya Stadium, Johor Baru.