The 13th edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup tournament not only returns to the shores of Malaysian waters after 14 years, but it is an effort by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) to build the fans base and raise the profile of the game.
“Although hockey has been played in the country for a longtime, it is not as popular as football, although currently the popularity is picking up in recent years,” said MHC president Dato’ Sri Subahan Kamal.
“We remember when we hosted the senior World Cup in 1975, the popularity grew overnight, especially after Malaysia finished fourth.
“We are once again looking forward for the present youngsters to give Malaysia a good run in the tournament and capture the fan base again.”
The last time Malaysia hosted the Junior World Cup was in 2009, but as co-host with Singapore and the tournament was held in Johor Bahru.
This will be the be the fourth time Malaysia will be hosting the tournament, after the first time when it hosted hosted the second edition of the tournament in 1982 at the then brand new Tun Razak Hockey Stadium at Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur, which then was the country’s first ever artificial pitch (astroturf), before the second time was in 1989 held in Ipoh.
“Basically, it is the second time the tournament is coming back to the city of Kuala Lumpur, but this time held at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Dec 5 to 16,” said Subahan.
The Bukit Jalil Stadium is no alien to top level competitions being held there, as it had hosted the 16th Commonwealth Games hockey competition in 1998, the 2001 Men’s Champions Challenge, 2002 Men’s World Cup, 2007 Men’s Champions Trophy, 2017 South East Asian Games hockey competition and2019 FIH Series Finals.
“Besides the tournament coming back to Malaysia, we are looking forward to the Malaysian youngsters to shine and the fans be able to witness the world’s young hockey talent who will be the future of world hockey.
“Thus aptly, we have tagged this tournament as the tournament for ‘Rising Stars.
“The Junior World Cup is the perfect platform for young players around the world to unleash their raw skill onto the international hockey scene.
“With such a show-piece event at hand, I am counting on Malaysian fans to come in doves not only to support the Malaysian team, but to come and watch the talent of the future and enjoy highly quality game by different countries.”
The Junior World Cup which was officially launched in June by the Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia, Hannah Yeoh and Subahan, will see 16 nations compete, namely host Malaysia who have been drawn in Group A together with Argentina, Australia Chile; Germany, France, South Africa, and Egypt in Group B, India, Spain, Korea, and Canada in Group C, and the Netherlands, Belgium, Pakistan, and New Zealand are in Group D.
“I still remember as a student of SM Sains Selangor, we were taken for the 1982 Junior World matches and how I fell in love with the game. I never imagined that one day, I will be leading the MHC. It is nostalgic for me and I hope some of the young fans who will witness the Junior World Cup this time around, will some day be involved in the game in one way or other – as a player, an umpire, official or even the president of MHC,” quipped Subahan.
“With our senior team and even the women’ team on the rise, I hope to see the fan base increase through this Junior World Cup for a continuous support for hockey in the country.
“The MHC board decided to bid to host this tournament with the future of the game at heart. It is an expensive process as we had to pay RM1.250 million for the right to host the tournament and will cost about RM3 million to host the tournament.
“We have worked hard to raise the money through sponsors and we are close to reaching our target, an am confident that we will get a few more sponsors to come forward to raise the whole amount.”
Subahan in his effort to attract the fans, is even prepared to take a decision to make it free admission for the matches for the public, despite FIH urging them to sell tickets for the tournament.
“Besides, having made arrangements for our National Hockey Development Programme (NHDP) players to come and watch the matches, we will also be inviting schools to send their students, besides hoping for fans and families to turn out in full force to support the tournament and witness some top class hockey displayed by the world’s young and future talent. “
Preparations to promote the tournament has begun and Subahan was hoping that fans mark the dates not only to support the Malaysian team, but to watch the other teams in action.
Teams will start arriving toward the end of November.
