Juniors going Down Under instead

THE National Juniors’ flight plan to Belfast has been rerouted to Perth, as they enter their final phase of training for the Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC) on Oct 12-19.
Initially, the team were supposed to play a series of friendlies in Belfast, but team manager Mirnawan Nawawi confirmed yesterday that Western Australian Institute of Sports (WAIS) are their new sparring opponents.
“The Belfast plan was shelved because we could not confirm the playing clubs, so we will be in Perth from Sept 15-23 and play a series of matches with the WAIS side,” said Mirnawan.
The SOJC, into its fourth edition, saw Malaysia win its inaugural tournament in 2011, but finished last in the next edition. The team bounced back by finishing second behind India last year.
The confirmed teams for SOJC are defending champions India, Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and debutants Britain.
“We will take 22 players to Perth, of which three will be goalkeepers. And the final names will probably be confirmed by the end of the month.
“We expect tough matches against WAIS, and hopefully the boys will be hardened by the time they play in the SOJC,” said Mirnawan.
The tournament, which has received RM1.7 million in sponsorship, is the only invitational under-21 tournament in the world.
The SOJC is the platform for under-21 teams around the globe to showcase their talent once a year and most of the teams use the tournament as part of their preparation for the Junior World Cup.
Malaysian juniors are being groomed for the 2016 Junior World Cup, but they need to be ready to defend their gold medal in the Junior Asia Cup in November in Kuantan, as it offers a direct entry to the World Cup.

Humbling experience on Tour

THE national hockey team went on a whirlwind four-day Tour of Incheon last week for a feel of the artificial pitch, and were handed a painful lesson by club teams instead.
Coach Arul Selvaraj’s team, preparing for the Asian Games in South Korea from Sept 19-Oct 4, lost 2-0 to Incheon City and drew 1-1 with the National Korean Sports University and the two clubs did not have any national players.
Both the matches may only be friendlies, but it brought back that kind of unpleasant feelings like being beaten 4-2 by Trinidad and Tobago in the Scotland Commonwealth Games.
It was a grim and expensive (considering the money spent in going there) Korean lesson, as well as a wake-up call for the Malaysian side who won silver at the 2010 Games in Guangzhou, China, and are looking to play in the final in Incheon.
“We went on a four-day tour and played at the Games venue, as well as checked out the Games Village as part of our preparations.
“Even though we lost to club sides, but at this stage, results do not matter yet as I get the team back into playing shape,” said Arul Selvaraj.
The “new” coach found himself in the hot-seat after the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) removed K. Dharmaraj 40 days before the Asian Games.
Arul now has a daunting task of not only making sure Malaysia do not lose to Singapore in their opening match on Sept 20, and then winning three more points against Bangladesh the next day, but also taking his team into the final.
Malaysia are in Group A with Singapore, Bangladesh, Japan and South Korea. In Group B are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Oman and China.
The good thing is that Malaysia have a three-day rest before they play South Korea on Sept 25, followed by Japan on Sept 27 after another rest day.
The formula would be to beat Singapore, Bangladesh and Japan which would be enough to take Malaysia into the semi-finals.
And if they make the semi-finals, Malaysia are highly likely to meet either India or Pakistan in the knock-out cross-over.
There are 20 players in training now, and they will only play against the National Juniors, and train on their fitness back home.
There is much at stake in Incheon, as the champions will advance to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, while the silver medallists and the rest of the Asian teams would have to qualify through the World League format, which is much more challenging.

New wind needed for limp AHF sails..

COMMENT

By Jugjet Singh

TENGKU Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah’s opening address as AHF President was frank, and as close to the truth as one can get.
   The multiple-hats President, who also has FA of Malaysia and Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHF) under his wings, acknowledged that AHF is a new entity, and a challenging one too.
   He is also the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Executive Board member.
   There are 30 AHF affiliates, with 27 attending the Congress in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. And Vietnam will be the 31st country that Tengku Abdullah will have to worry about soon.
   Frankly speaking, only six affiliates play good hockey but they too are being hammered into oblivion by second rung teams from Europe, Oceania and South America (Trinidad and Tobago).
   South Korea is the highest ranked Asian men’s team on number 8, India (9th), Pakistan (11th), Malaysia (13th), Japan (14th) and Oman (22nd).
   As for the Asian women China (5th), South Korea (9th), Japan (10th), India (13th) and Malaysia (21st) are the regulars who promote hockey around the globe.
   The first question that came to mind was how are Tengku Abdullah and his council members going to achieve what former AHF president Sultan Azlan Shah and his trusted lieutenant secretary general Tan Sri Alagendra failed to address in two decades of helming the Asian chapter?
    No less than FIH president Leandro Negre and CEO Kelly Fairweather were present at the AHF Congress, and Negre said this was the first time he was given a chance to address a continental affiliate.
   Negre acknowledged Asia has a big following in India, and Fairweather said the next target for fan-base is China.
   Both the FIH bigwigs were looking at Television money when India and Pakistan play, and have gone to great lengths to help the slide in both the countries.
   But Tengku Abdullah knows the score, when he said his immediate task would be to see Asian teams remain regularly among the top five, and not pummeled at the World Cup and Olympics by second rung European teams.
   Easier said than done, as it can be safely said that out of the 30 affiliates, 24 are deadwood who only contribute by organising seminars, as well as become alive in the Sea Games year only.
   Macau, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Iran, Afghanistan, Taiwan, Nepal, Mongolia, North Korea, Philippines, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates.... are the sleepers which Tengku Abdullah will have the mammoth task of waking up.
   The task of reviving the Big Six in the men’s and women’s Asian sides is daunting enough, so one can imagine how difficult it is going to be to revive, shake or awaken hockey in the second tier AHF countries.
   As a clear example, the AHF CEO is Tayyab Ikram from Macau, a country which does not play hockey and will remain a sleeper for a long time to come.
   The AHF boat will need a typhoon from Negre as well as Fairweather to make its gaunt sails flutter again, to realise Tengku Abdullah ambition of helping Asia.

The AHF brotherhood...

THE Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) showed their brotherhood of 30 countries yesterday at their congress in Kuala Lumpur when all posts were won unposed.
   When nominations closed on Aug 21, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah became the AHF president unopposed, and so did incumbent treasurer Fumio Ogura of Japan.
   And yesterday, a multitude of withdrawals saw only five vice president’s and 10 council members remaining, hence no need for the members to cast their ballots as it was the magical numbers needed.
   For Malaysia, Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad and Manjit Majid Abdullah withdrew their nominations, while incumbent council members S. Shamala and Datuk Rahim Ariff were returned unopposed.
   Outgoing acting president Tan Sri P. Alagendra, who served as AHF secretary general for 18 years vacated his seat with dignity as FIH president Leandro Negre was present to bestow him with a special award.
   Alagendra was also made into an AHF honorary president for life.
    “First of all I would need to get a better idea about the strength of the AHF, after which the priority would be to make the region stronger as Asia is now far behind Europe and Oceania.
   “There is plenty to do to take Asian teams into the top six in the world, and also help countries which are still at a development state,” said Tengku Abdullah.
    He is also the FA of Malaysia as well as Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president. Tengku Abdullah is also a member of the FIH Executive Board.
   “I still stand by my decision now to seek re-election (in November) as the MHC president and I have a few names as replacement, but can’t reveal them at this juncture.
   “Also, by becoming the AHF president, I become an automatic FIH EB member so I will request the FIH to name another Asian candidate into their EB to take over my elected position,” said Tengku Abdullah.
    AHF Vice Presidents: Chaiyapak Siriwat (Thai), Seksenbayez Berikkazy (Kaz), Narinder Batra (Ind), Rana Mujahid Ali (Pak), Shin Jung Hee (S Kor).
   Council members: Datuk Rahim Ariff (Mas), S. Shamala (Mas), Mathavan Devadas (Sing), Bahram Shafie (Irn), Akhrat Rasool (Pak), Sumith Edirisinghe (S Lanka), Zuhair Alajmi (Oman), Abdur Rashid Sikder (Bang), Li Gao Chao (Ch), Masako kamisuki (Jpn).

MERDEKA ! MERDEKA ! MERDEKA !