Juniors off to nine matches in Europe..

THE National juniors will depart for Europe today to play nine Test matches in preparation for the Junior World Cup in New Delhi on Dec 6-15.
    Team manager Mirnawan Nawawi said: “Two matches will be against Poland Under-23, and one against the Polish senior side. Then we will move to Belgium for another three matches with their under-21 side.
   “After that, we travel to England to play another three matches with their under-21 side.”
    Belgium are the emerging power in Europe, as their senior side beat Australia in the final of the Netherlands World League Semi-finals to secure their World Cup berth.
   The International Hockey Federation (FIH) have yet to release the groupings for the Junior World Cup, but the 16 who will feature are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, Egypt, France, Germany, India, South Korea, Holland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russia, Spain and Malaysia.
     For the tour, coach K. Dharmaraj will not have the services of five national players – Faiz Helmi, Izad Hakimi, Fitri Saari, Firhan Ashaari and Meor Azuan – as they are preparing for the Asia Cup in Ipoh.
    “The five will re-join the junior side after completing their Ipoh assignment, and it is actually a blessing, as we get to test some of the bench-warmers in the Europe Tour,” said Mirnawan.
    MALAYSIA: Hazrul Faiz, Hafizzuddin Othman, Kavin Kartik, Zulhairi Hashim, Nor Aqmal Gaffar, Aminuddin Zain, Azri Hassan, Haziq Samsul, Shazril Irwan, Joel Samuel van Huizen, Syamim Yusof, Rashid Baharom, Shahril Saabah, Azwar Rahman, Dangerous Lee, Faridzul Afiq, Redzhwan Jaafar, Azrul Hasbullah.
   Manager: Mirnawan Nawawi; Coach: K. Dharmaraj;   Assistant coaches: K. Gobinathan, Nor Azlan Bakar.