MHL to decide on dates in July

THE new dates for the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League willbe fixed after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) releases thegroupings for the World Cup Qualifiers. The FIH will only make the draw sometime in July and Malaysia could bein any one of three qualifying tournaments involving six teams each - inLille (Oct 31-Nov 8), Auckland (Nov 7-15) and a yet-to-be-named venue(Nov-TBC). MHF competitions committee head Datuk Rahim Mohamed Arif said FIH willrelease the draw after the Champions Challenge II in Dublin on July 6-12. "If Malaysia are drawn to play in Lille then the committee willscheduled the MHL Premier Division somewhere in November. The two-month long league will only start in December if Malaysia aregrouped either in the second or third qualifiers," said Rahim, afterchairing the competitions committee meeting at MHF headquarters in BukitJalil yesterday.
"We cannot hold the league right after the Champions Challenge II asthe local calendar is packed with tournaments and also the national teamwill be playing test matches abroad."
The Premier League may also feature a foreign team as Singapore havebeen invited to send their top club for the competition.
So far, four teams - defending champions Ernst & Young, Sapura, Maybankand Tenaga Nasional - have confirmed their entries while Nur Insafi,Universiti Kuala Lumpur and Jurutera, Letrik dan Jentera (JLJ) have yetto reply.
Meanwhile, Malacca City Council maintained their lead in the DivisionOne standings after winning 5-2 against Air Force in Sungai Petani. Malacca CC's scorers were Hanif Rahim (17th and 45th minutes), SyafiqAmir (10th), Syakir Kamaruddin (61st) and Mirhardy Nawawi (69th).
Air Force replied through Fattah Jalaluddin (42nd) and Azwar Hafiz(55th). Malacca CC, who are tipped to win the title, will face Armed ForcesJuniors on Friday. RESULTS: Air Force 2 Malacca CC 5, UNIMAP 0 UiTM 2.