Malaysian Hockey Federation to allow national players to partake in Razak Cup: Hockey News
Following comprehensive negotiations between Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) and Chief Coach of the National Team, it has been decided that the national players would be released for taking part in the Razak Cup representing their respective teams. The
Razak Cup will be into action from May 27, onwards.
Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad, the Deputy President of the MHF, while speaking to the media informed that the Chief Coach, Tai Beng Hai, has agreed to allow the players to participate in the Razak Cup, but only on weekends. However, the coach said that the players
would have to be back in the training camp during the weekdays.
It is important to explain here that earlier Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the President of the MHF, had barred the national team players from taking part in all the domestic events, including Razak Cup, in order to mould a squad for the Olympic Qualifiers.
Malaysia, the team currently holding 15th place in world ranking and earned the seventh position in the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup, which was recently held in Malaysia in the month of May. The team is going to take part in the
second phase of the training camp that was called in preparations for the upcoming four-nation tournament scheduled to be held in Moscow, Russia from June 20 to 26. Besides Malaysia, Ukraine, South Africa and the host Russia will be among the other participants.
The four-nation event is part of the campaign to prepare themselves for qualifiers of the 2012 London Olympics in the month of April. The Deputy Chairman further stated that the East Zone of the Razak Cup will be comprised of two squads, including Pahang
and Kelantan. It is vital to mention here that Police and Terengganu have withdrawn from the event.
The rules and procedures have been changed and the event has entered into a new era. The Cup is going to introduce five zones based on seventeen teams. The bottom two squads will be moved into the Division Two while the two top sides will be selected from
the Division One.
The final round of the Razak Cup will be staged from July 20 to 30 at the Bukit Serendit Hockey Stadium in Malacca. Among the squads of the North Zone, Armed Forces, Perlis, Kadah and Penang are the four names.
On the other side, the Central Zone will consist of Selangor, National Under-16 Team, Perak and the Division One defending champions, Kuala Lumpur. The teams including Malacca, Johor and Negeri Sembilan will be included in the South Zone while West Zone
will feature Brunei, Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak teams.
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