Revington names 20 for South Africa Tour..

NATIONAL chief coach Paul Revington will be taking his charges back to his home turf in South Africa for a Four Test series from June 2 to prepare for the World Hockey League Semi-finals.
    Malaysia will open their World League accounts against Pakistan on June 29 in Johor Baru, while the other teams in Group B are England and South Africa.
    In Group A are world no 1 Germany, South Korea, Argentina and a yet to be named team, which will be confirmed after the end of the Round 2 which ongoing in Russia now.
    All eight teams progress to the quarter-finals stage, and one win at the last eight will take Malaysia into the World Cup in the Netherlands next year.
   The English have also named their 20 for Johor Baru, which consists of six London Olympics players.
    Among the notable names that were missing from the South Africa Tests were national No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar and seasoned defender as well as penalty corner flicker Amin Rahim.
    “Kumar was left out of the squad due to travel fatigue as he just returned from Netherlands after a one-week goalkeepers training. His place will be taken over by Kairulnizam (Ibrahim),” said Revington.
   Kumar will train under goalkeepers coach M. Nadarajan in Kuala Lumpur.
    Roslan Jamaluddin, the No 2 goalkeeper, had also attended the Netherlands training but he is game to travel to South Africa.
   As for Amin: “He opted out for personal reasons, but will be considered for the World League selection at a later date,” said Revington.
   Also left behind but still within a fighting chance for the World League are Azreen Rizal, Jivan Mohan, Ramadan Rosli, and Norhizzat Sumantri.
   The national team is currently involved with a four-match series with China’s Liaoning club where they won 2-1 and 4-2. The other two matches will be today (7pm) and tomorrow (6pm) at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
   Goalkeepers: Kairulnizam Ibrahim, Roslan Jamaluddin.
   Defenders: Ahmad Kazamirul, Azlan Misron, Baljit Singh, Sukri Mutalib, Izad Hakimi, Razie Rahim.
   Midfielders: Faiz Helmi, Meor Muhamad Azuan, Fitri Saari, Shahrun Nabil, Azammi Adabi, Marhan Jalil, Nabil Fiqri Mohamed Noor.
    Forwards: Chua Boon Huat, Faizal Saari, Izwan Firdaus, Firhan Ashaari, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin.