35 trainees for 2014

NOTE: Back to work today (Jan 16) for the first time since being knocked out; and being wheeled in and out of ICU's in three hospitals after catching a deadly bug in New Delhi during the Junior World Cup.
   Would like to thank Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah; fellow journalists Satwant Singh Dhaliwal, S. Ramaguru, Bazli Azmi and Sandeep Nakai (New Delhi); All Malaysian coaches, players and support staff; Datuk Dr S.S. Cheema; Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz; and everybody who called/smsed well wishes.
    Thanks guys for being there for me...


CHIEF coach Paul Revington named his 35 trainees for the  five tournaments this year, with seven new inclusions from  the junior ranks.
   He also dropped nine players from last year’s training  squad.
    And the end target is the Asian Games, on Sept 19-Oct 4 in  South Korea, which offers a ticke to the Olympics.
    “I have name 35 trainees as we have many tournaments, as  well as friendly matches arranged for this year, and they will  be utilised in rotation to get the best tresults,” said Reving ton.
    The seven newcomers to the senior side played a pivotal  role in helping Malaysia finish fourth in the Junior World Cup  in New Delhi.
    Kavin Kartik, Hazrul Faiz, Azri Hassan, Hafizuddin Oth man, Rashid Baharom, Shahril Saabah and Shazril Irwin --  might get a chance to play in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on  March 13-23 in Ipoh.
    “Now that the seven are with the senior training squad,  they will get an equal chance to fight for a spot in the Azlan  Shah Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Champions Chal lenge, World Cup and the Asian Games,” said Revington.
     And the target for the World Cup, at the Hague on May 31- June 15 is to finish among the top 10.
    “We need to improve our ranking (13th at present) and so  the team must strive to finish among the top-10 in the  Netherlands World Cup,” said Malaysian Hockey Confed eration vice president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad.
    And there was bad news for nine trainees from last year, as  they were left out after failing to improve.
    The nine are Amir Farid, Amirullah Zainol, Dedy Ariyadi,  Jivan Mohan, Khairulnizam Ibrahim, Megat Azrifiq, Amin  rahim, Iderus Ali and Mohamed Noor Faeez Ibrahim.
    The squad will return to training on Jan 20, and start the  year with four matches against a visiting China side on Feb  21-25. And the other friendlies arranged are against Canada  (March 6-9 in Malacca), Ireland series (April 26-May 4 at  KLHA Stadium) and Dutch series (May 24-26 at the Hague).
    2014 TRAINING squad: Ahmad Kazamirul, Azlan Misron,  Azreen Rizal, Baljit Singh, Engku Malek, Faiz Helmi, Faizal  Saari, Harvinder Singh, Ismail Abu, Izwan Firdaus, Kavin  Kartik, S. Kumar, Meor Azuan, Izad Hakimi, Hazrul Faiz,  Shukri Mutalib, Fitri Saari, Madzli Ikmar, Shahrun Nabil,  Syamim Yusof, Azammi Adabi, Firhan Ashaari, Ramadan  Rosli, Azri Hassan, Hafizuddin Othman, Marhan Jalil, Rashid  Baharom, Razie Rahim, Shahril Saabah, Fiqri Mohamed  Noor, Norhizzar Sumantri, Rosalan Jamaluddin, S. Sel varaju, Shazril Irwin, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin.