THE knock-out Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup will be held Tuesday, with Premier Division sides Universiti Kuala Lumpur and Maybank involved a do-or-die battle at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium.
Double champions Terengganu Hockey Team and Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) will await the outcome of Tuesday's matches before joining the other six in the quarter-finals, where another fresh draw would be held.
The Round of 16, however, is expected to see Premier Division sides Sapura and Tenaga breeze past their Division One opponents.
UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj said his team will give equal weightage to the newly introduced Alagendra Cup.
Fresh from the 1-0 win over Tenaga Nasional in the Premier Division, UniKL will be hoping for the same result against Maybank.
"We are taking both the league and knockout seriously and there is no question on that," said Arul.
" It will be a tough match as Maybank are a good side and have an all-round strength.
" We need to be both tactically and physically ready for this match as playing another match barely 48 hours after the last match can be taxing.
"I will field the same side as I did against TNB as really there is no necessity to invoke any changes,"
UniKL were a class act against Tenaga, with Baljit Singh and Mohamad Tousiq leading the way with outstanding displays.
And the younger players gained in confidence as the match progressed, resulting in the win.
"We may lack experience but the players make it up with fighting qualities and in a knock-out match it's important to make chances count as there is no second chance."
TUESDAY: Sapura v Nur Insafi (Tun Razak, 6pm), Tenaga v UiTM-KPT (KLHA, 6pm), Ipoh City Council v ATM Airod (Azlan Shah, 6pm), BJSS V SSTMI (Ministry of Education, 6pm), Politeknik v TNB Thunderbolts (Taman Daya, 5pm), Maybank v UniKL (KLHA, 8pm).
