KUALA Lumpur will be gunning to reclaim their glory days in the Razak Cup when the Division One starts on Monday.
The 19-time champions last laid their hands on the Cup in 2012, as Perak powered away with back-to-back titles in the last two editions.
And their trump card could well be national juniors player Shahril Saabah who scored a total of eighth goals for Malaysia in the Junior Asia Cup in Kuantan.
The other national juniors in the KL squad are Ahmad Ashraf, Norsyafiq Sumantri, Zulpidaus Mizun and Nor Azrul Rahman.
Kuala Lumpur coach K. Dharmaraj said: "Most of KL players are young, especially from the Project squad. We have the potential and I am looking towards a good performance from them. The Razak Cup is also an opportunity for them to be noticed and a platform for them to break into the senior team.”
Defending champions Perak are eyeing their ninth title, in 53 editions.
Perak team manager Hakimi Hamid said: "All the teams playing in Division One are equally strong since many of them would be fielding a number of national juniors and seniors.
"We also have a mix of juniors and seniors, and players like Azlan Misron, Shukri Mutalib and national juniors skipper Najib Hassan and Haziq Samsul would be the mainstay in our bid to win our eighth title."
For the record, Singapore won the inaugural title in 1963, and retained it the next year.
Division One champion will receive RM10,000, runners-up RM7,000 and RM5,000 to the third-placed team. Prize money for Division Two is RM5,000 for gold, RM3,000 for silver and RM2,000 for bronze.
RESULTS: Division Two: Armed Forces 3 Selangor 6, Police 5 Kelantan 3, Perlis 4 Kedah 1.
SATURDAY -- Division Two: Sarawak v Kelantan (6pm, Pitch I), Armed Forces v Kedah (6pm, Pitch II), Police v Perlis (8pm, Pitch I).
MONDAY -- Division One: Group A: Perak v Penang (Pitch I, 8pm), Terengganu v Malacca (Pitch II, 8pm).
Group B: Negri Sembilan v Pahang (6pm, Pitch I), Kuala Lumpur v Johor (Pitch II, 6pm).
Note: All matches at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Friday, November 27, 2015
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