Malaysia to miss six for SOJC

KUALA LUMPUR: The Eight Edition of Sultan of Johor Cup will miss the services of six players who will be in Buenos Aires for the Youth Olympics.
  The SOJC, at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium on Oct 6-13, clashes with the Youth Olympics which will be held on Oct 6-18.
  Defending champions Great Britain, Australia, India, New Zealand, Japan and Malaysia will battle in the only invitational junior tournament in the world, with the hosts setting a modest fourth target for themselves.
  Coached by Olympian Nor Saiful Zaini, the team will start their final phase of training on Sept 25 and move to train at Taman Daya on Oct 1.
  “We currently have 20 players in training and we have held one-week training camps for a total of six times since June this year,” said Nur Saiful.
  “I expect India, Australia and Great Britain to be the front runners for the title but we intend to make it tough for them event hough we have to make do without six players who will be representing the country at the Youth Olympics."
  Yesterday (Monday) a sponsorship ceremony was held to present a total of RM2.15 million raised for the tournament.
  “We are thankful that sponsors have generously stepped forward to help the organisational cost of this tournament,” said organising secretary Datuk Manjit Majid Abdullah who is also the vice president of Malaysian Hockey Confederation,
  Those who presented their contributions for the SOJC are; Johor State Government (RM500,000),  RITZ Corporation Holding Berhad (RM500,000),  Astaka Padu Sdn Bhd (RM200,000),  WM Era (RM200,000), Johor Corporation (RM100,000), JBB Builders (M) Sdn Bhd (RM100,000), UM Land ( RM100,000), Tenaga Nasional Berhad (RM100,000), 
SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd (RM50,000), KH Land Sdn Bhd (RM50,000), The Zon (RM50,000), Iskandar Waterfront Holding Berhad (RM50,000),  Genting Berhad (RM50,000) and Berjaya Times Square (RM30,000).
  Sports Depot will provide apparel for match officials as well as special awards for Man-of-the-Match for all 18 matches.