KL hard hit by ban on national trainees in U-21 meet

Former champions Kuala Lumpur will go into the MHF Under-21 hockey tournament with a considerably weakened side following the decision to bar the national trainees from the Dec 29-Jan 6 meet.

KL finished third in the 2005 edition and were last year’s Sukma (Malaysia Games) champions. But this time around, they will be without 10 top players and will have to rely on a lot of untested players for their title challenge.

They have eight players in the national junior training squad and two in the senior team. All of them are core players in the team. The two senior players are Mohamed Razie Abdul Rahim and Nabil Fiqri Mohamed Nor.

But KL coach K. Dharmaraj is unperturbed and feels that the ruling will also affect the other teams in the tournament.

“Yes, it will be a big blow for us. But we need to get on with it. The other states like Penang, Perak and Johor are also affected. So in a way it is good for us to look at other players so that they can gain experience,” said Dharmaraj after a training session yesterday.

He added: “There are also a number of players who are eligible to play for us in the Sukma but they will not be allowed to represent KL in the Under-21 meet.

“This is because the tournament rules on eligibility of players differ. Sukma rules allow those born outside KL but who are working in KL to play for us. But for the Under-21 meet, the MHF ruling states that the players have to play for the state where they are born.

“It is confusing as the Sukma and Under-21 meets are held alternatively. Still we will try and put up a strong challenge for the title.”

For the Under-21 tournament, Dharmaraj has the services of seven players from last year’s Sukma winning squad.

They are Mohamed Roni Risman, Ahmad Bakri Marfi, Meor Mohamed Ridzuan, Hafiz Jami, Adam Mustapha, Faisal Kamaruddin and Hafiz Zakaria.

“These seven players will form the core of the team for the Under-21 tournament. They have the experience to guide the other players. I think it is going to be a very open tournament with several teams having a shot at winning the title,” added Dharmaraj.

For Dharmaraj, this will be his debut as coach in the Under-21 meet. Earlier this year, he was in charge of the KL Under-14 and Under-16 teams. The team finished runners-up in the Under-14 meet and third in the Under-16 tournament.

“I hope to see the team make the podium again. There are a lot of potential in the squad. The only setback for us is the players’ lack of experience,” he said.

KL are in Group B with Selangor, Malacca, Johor, Perlis and Terengganu. The teams in Group A are Perak, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Penang and Negri Sembilan.