Saturday, November 8, 2008

Asian Wild Card for Juniors

THE National Juniors received a wild card to play in the Third Asian Champion Clubs Cup on Nov 13-16th at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium.
Initially, the tournament was supposed to be a five-team affair, with Malaysia being represented by Ernst & Young, but the Juniors were roped in to make it more exciting.
In Group A are Ernst & Young, National Juniors and, Royal Thai Airforce, while in Group B are Olympian Village Club of Pakistan, Singapore Recreation Club and Adijon of Uzbek istan.
The tournament is being revived by the Asian Hockey Federation (AFH) after a 15-year lapse, and the champions will play in the World Club Championships in Barcelona in January.
But if the National Juniors win, they will not be eligible to play in Barcelona. The Juniors are currently in training for the 2009 Junior World Cup which Malaysia and Singapore will co-host in June next year.
The Champion Clubs Cup clashes with MHL, and so the local league will be extended by 10 days.
FIXTURES -- Nov 13: Ernst & Young v National Juniors (5pm), Olympian Village Club v Adijon (7pm).
Nov 14: Royal Thai Airforce v National Juniors (5pm), Singapore Recreation Club v Olympian Village Club (7pm).
Nov 15: Ernst & Young v Royal Thai Airforce (5pm), Singapore Recreation Club v Adijon (7pm).
Nov 16: Final -- 5pm; Third-Fourth: 3pm.