National men’s junior hockey team players will have to ‘sacrifice’ by not participating in the upcoming TNB Tun Abdul Razak Cup 2024 which will be held at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru from Oct 2-12.
The reason, said national junior team assistant coach I. Vikneswaran, is because the Young Tigers are chasing time in preparing for the Sultan of Johor Cup, and the Junior Asia Cup.
“The tournament dates for the Razak Cup are too close to the Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC). The national juniors are currently training for the SOJC. We have no alternative but to keep the players together,” said Vikneswaran.
“Our focus is on the 12th edition of the SOJC. We are gearing towards this Under-21 international tournament followed by the Asia Cup. Every opportunity that we can utilize for training (including physical training) is important. We don’t have much time,” he added.
The 12th edition of the SOJC will be held from Oct 18-26 at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium – six days after the conclusion of the Razak Cup.
The men’s and women’s Junior Asia Cup 2024 will take place in Muscat, Oman in early November 2024. The Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2024 is a continental championship as well as a qualifying competition for the Men’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup 2025.
The six (6) highest-ranked teams in the final ranking of the Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2024 qualify for participation in the Junior World Cup 2025.
While it’s a ‘Big Sacrifice’ by the Young Tigers, national senior team head coach Sarjit has given the green light to the Speedy Tigers to participate. The Speedy Tigers will resume national camp training on Oct 17.
“The team of 36 players was brought together after the Malaysia Games. Now we have shortlisted this team to 25 players. All of them will be involved in the SOJC,” he added.
“We only had one-and-a-half-months of training, including the Australian tour, and this is not enough to compete in international tournaments. That is why the players will have to sacrifice not playing in the Razak Cup. Our training programme has to continue as it also involves a lot of physical training,” said Vikneswaran.
Young Tigers, a moniker given to the juniors, went on a tour of Brisbane from July 23-August 8. They played four matches against the Burras (Australian national Under-21 side), and two against the Queensland State Hockey Team.
“Right after the first selection process we took the players to Australia. It was a Malaysian Hockey Confederation initiative to help the team gain exposure and build on experience,” he said. “The Australian tour helped us realise what areas we needed to work on. The players took a break upon returning from Brisbane and competed in the Malaysia Games.”
“They have been training hard since and have developed an understanding of each other’s gameplay. It will be wonderful to play against foreign teams in the SOJC which will help us get better with this kind of exposure,” added Vikneswaran.
