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JUNIOR WORLD CUP: Coach believes his team can emerge champions
COACH K. Dharmaraj is confident his charges fear no team in the Junior World Cup, as they have been turned into a hardened outfit after clocking many hour sof playing under different conditions all over the world to prepare for the showdown in New Delhi today.
New Zealand are the first hurdle, and a winning start against the Kiwis will chart the coach and his charges’ future in the tournament.
“I have told my boys many times that they must believe in themselves and dream every night of becoming Junior World Cup champions.
“And I believe, if any Malaysian team can achieve this feat, it is these boys that I have with me,” said Dharmaraj.
His players are fearless, and don’t look at the country of origin of their opponents when trooping onto the pitch.
“There is absolutely no fear in the hearts of my players for European, Oceania, Asian, or South America teams.
They have been drilled to not fear teams which have a rich history in hockey, but only fear silly mistakes which will make their quest of making a big impact on the tournament that much harder,” said Dharmaraj.
Dharmaraj went on to say junior as well as senior coaches around the globe have started to look up to Malaysia, as the players have the heart and desire to win, and keep on winning.
“I have been approached by coaches from South Korea, Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and Egypt in the past year and all of them said that my boys are among the teams to beat in New Delhi.
“And I have also told my players, that our tour to Australia recently was an invitation, and not a request from Malaysia. Not only did the Australians invite us, but they also sponsored our board and lodging.
“Pakistan had also invited Malaysia to play two friendlies, with full board and lodging provided. It was the same with England, when we went there to play.
“Hosts India also invited us to New Delhi this year. I am not bragging, but I told the players to think for themselves why all this sudden interest to play against Malaysia?
“I told them they are now a respected outfit, and the sky is the limit, if they choose to dream big,” said Dharmaraj.
A fiery player in his heyday, Dharmaraj is also a fiery ‘preacher’ who has taken the Malaysian Juniors to new heights many times.
Under Dharmaraj, the Project 2013 players have beaten Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea, India and Spain.
“My players have only failed to beat Netherlands, and we lost twice to the Dutch under cold conditions in 2010,” said Dharmaraj.
Project 2013 were also champions of the 2009 Sea Games, runners-up in the Under-18 Asia Cup in 2009 and 2011. They were champions in the inaugural Sultan of Johor Cup 2011, and SOJC runners-up this year.
“The biggest achievement was winning the Junior Asia Cup in 2012 and qualifying on merit for the World Cup.
“My boys have performed ‘magic’ when least expected, and I have told them, dreaming of gold in New Delhi can be turned into reality if they put their heart and mind to it,” said Dharmaraj.
TheMalaysianHockeyConfederation (MHC) has set a top-six target for the juniors, but Dharmaraj believes in his players, and in tandem, they believe they are champion material.
The squad: Hazrul Faiz Ahmad Sobri, Hafizuddin Othman, Firhan Ashaari, Fitri Saari (captain), Rashid Baharom, G. Kavin Kartik, Syamim Yusof, Shazril Irwan Nazli, Meor Azuan, Haziq Samsul, Izad Hakimi Jamaluddin, Azri Hassan, Zulhairi Hashim, Faiz Helmi Jali, Shahril Saabah, Joel Samuel van Huizen, Nor Aqmal Abdul Ghaffar, Hafiz Zainol.
THE Malaysian juniors left for New Delhi Sunday, with the airlines carrying special cargo in two-time Junior World Cup player Kavin Kartik (pic).
The cargo is overweight, but worth every ounce on the artificial pitch, as portly Kevin’s passes are accurate, and deadly to open wide the opponents back-line.
He is only the second Malaysian to play in the Under-21 tournament which will be held from Dec 6-15.
The first Malaysian was M. Davendran who played in Vancouver in 1985, and Ipoh in 1989.
“It was a wonderful experience for me, as I was only 17 when I was selected to play in the Malaysia-Singapore joint World Cup.
“The coach back then was K. Rajan, and I played against England, Spain, Egypt and Poland; and it was not an easy feat to finish 12th among 20 teams.
“But after the tournament, I put on too much of weight and was almost sidelined from the training pool, but I fought back, lost some weight and an proud to represent country again,” said Kavin, who hails from Tampin, Negri Sem bilan.
Tampin, even back in the ‘dark ages’ of 1975, had produced a gem in N. Palanisamy who helped Malaysia finish fourth in the senior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
And present No 1 senior goalkeeper S. Kumar also hails from Tampin, and to name one of the other famous son is Dr Bryan Jeyhan Siva.
“No doubt, I would prefer Kevin to lose more weight, but his body has not responded to all the vigorous training that I have put him under for the last one year.
“He is not lazy, and took the challenge to lose weight by following the training schedule religiously, but his body structure is such that it became almost an impossible task even to lose a few kilos.
“But even with his present structure, he is my first choice because he is a strong defender, and also makes accurate passes, which tears apart the opponents defense,” said coach K. Dharmaraj.
Malaysia went early to acclimatise, and also play a friendly against one of the tournament Germany on Tuesday, before opening their Junior World Cup accounts against New Zealand on Dec 6, followed by South Africa (Dec 8) and England (Dec 9).
PARENTS were in full force at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Sunday morning to send off their hopes, and also the nation’s 18 best to play in the Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
The Project 2013 Squad was formed five years ago with a special mission to qualify for the World Cup in merit and the boys did the nation proud by clinching the Junior Asia Cup gold medal in Malacca last year -- and made the New Delhi grade with style.
“It is a nice feeling to finally arrive at the airport, and you can see that the proud parents are beaming with pride.
“We qualified by becoming Asian champions, and now, this squad will attempt to qualify for the quarter-finals, and even further, as the aim is to win every match we play in New Delhi,” said team manager Mirnawan Nawawi.
The front-runners for this junior tournament are Ger manay, hosts India, Australia and a handful of other Eu ropean nations.
“The battle in India would not only be against top-ranked junior teams, but also the chilly wind and unpredictable year- end weather in New Delhi.
“But the players have seen it all in their tours Down Under, and also Europe where we had to contend with some torrid weather in the past year.
“And we are also ready with the right clothing, and the five- day acclimatisation would be enough to prepare the boys for their opening match against New Zealand,” said Mirnawan.
MALAYSIA -- Hazrul Faiz Ahmad Sobri (goalkeeper), Hafizuddin Othman (goalkeeper), Firhan Ashaari, Fitri Saari (captain), Rashid Baharom, Kavin Kartik, Syamim Yusof, Shazril Irwan Nazli, Meor Azuan, Haziq Samsul, Izad Hakimi Jamaluddin, Azri Hassan, Zulhairi Hashim, Faiz Helmi Jali, Shahril Saabah, Joel Samuel van Huizen, Nor Aqmal Abdul Ghaffar, Hafiz Zainol.
JUNIOR WORLD CUP FIXTURES DEC 6-15 NEW DELHI
(Malaysian time)
GROUP A: Germany, Belgium, Pakistan, Egypt.
GROUP B: Argentina, Australia, Spain, France.
GROUP C: Canada, India, South Korea, Netherlands.
GROUP D: Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, England.
Dec 6:
Group A: Germany v Belgium (5pm), Pakistan v Egypt (8.30pm).
Group B: Australia v Argentina (4.30pm), Spain v France (7.30pm).
Group C: South Korea v Canada (2.30pm), netherlands v India (10.30pm).
Group D: New Zealand v Malaysia (6.30pm), England v South Africa (10pm).
Dec 7:
Group A: Belgium v Egypt (4.30pm), Pakistan v Germany (6.30pm).
Group C: South Korea v Netherlands (8.30pm), India v Canada (10.30pm).
Dec 8:
Group B: Australia v Spain (4.30pm), Argentina v France (6.30pm).
Group D: South Africa v Malaysia (8.30pm), New Zealand v England (10.30pm).
Dec 9:
Group B: Argentina v Spain (4.30pm), Australia v France (6.30pm).
Group D: England v Malaysia (8.30pm), South Africa v New Zealand (10.30pm).
Dec 10:
Group A: Germany v Egypt (4.30pm), belgium v Pakistan (6.30pm).
Group C: Netherlands v Canada (8.30pm), India v South Korea (8.30pm).
THE Malaysian juniors will head for New Delhi today (Dec 1) morning, at the back of a stern warning from Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) senior vice president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad for them to behave, on and off the pitch.
The Junior World Cup will be from Dec 6-15, with Malaysia opening accounts against New Zealand on day-one of the tournament.
“The MHC and its coaching staff have been preparing all of you to face this moment in new Delhi for the last five years, and my warning before all of you depart, is that behave on and off the pitch as you will be carrying the Malaysian flag on your shoulders,” said Nur Azmi.
The warning has its merit, as the national Juniors lost the Sultan of Johor Cup gold medal to India 3-0 when some players started fighting, not for the ball, but with their opponents and also the umpires for assumed wrong calls.
“Always remember, that the umpire is also human and he can make mistakes but that does not mean that you need to charge at him in a threatening manner and question his decision.
“As this will not only see you receive a card, but also put your team-mates in trouble when you are sent out, even for a few minutes.
“So, behave on and off the pitch, and there is always the video referral to fall-back to when you think the umpire has made a wrong call,” said Azmi, who was a former national player.
Yesterday, coach K. Dharmaraj’s boys were feted to a lunch, by one of their sponsors Grays, at the Olympic Sports Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
“We have been supporting the juniors for the last four years to the region of RM100,000.
“I believe we have a good mix of players with lots of experience playing together over the years. And after their performance in the Sultan of Johor Cup, I am confident that they will rise to the occasion in the Junior World Cup as well,” said Grays rights holder Kuckreja & Co managing Director Mohanji Singh Kuckreja.
After playing New Zealand on Dec 6, the juniors meet South Africa (Dec 8) and England (Dec 9) to wrap-up their group D fixtures.
New Zealand played two friendlies with Australia before heading for New Delhi, and lost 6-1 and 5-2.
