Seven top 10 junior teams to compete in Bukit Jalil

Seven teams ranked in the top 10 in the world junior rankings have confirmed their participation in the Eight-Nation Junior International Invitational hockey tournament, which will be held at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Jan 17-27.

The seven are 2005 Junior World Cup runners-up Australia, India (fourth), Holland (fifth), Germany (sixth), Pakistan (seventh), South Korea (eighth) and hosts Malaysia (10th).

New Zealand, who did not play in the 2005 Junior World Cup, are also in the fray.

The junior meet is being organised by the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) as part of the team’s preparation for the 2009 Junior World Cup, which will be jointly organised by the MHF and the Singapore Hockey Federation (SHF).

MHF secretary Hashim Mohamed Yusof said yesterday that the quality of the matches would be high as the best junior teams are taking part.

“We will follow the same format that we used in the recent Champions Trophy. The teams will play in a round robin format in the preliminary round and then compete in the classification matches to determine their final positions.

“That way they will get to play eight quality matches.

“All the matches will be held in the evening and two pitches will be used.

“The fixtures have been drawn up and it will be released as soon as the International Hockey Federation (FIH) have ratified it.

“Although this is an invitational event we have sought sanction from the FIH. That is why we have asked for the FIH to ratify the fixtures,” said Hashim.

Next year will be an important year for the junior teams as all the continental competitions will be a qualifying event for the Junior World Cup.

Malaysia and Singapore have been given automatic berths to the 2009 Finals.

The field for the Finals has been increased from 16 to 20. The other 18 teams will come from the various continental tournaments. The FIH will release the number of teams that will qualify from each continent.

For the last Junior World Cup, Europe had six places while Asia had four. Pan American was given three places while Africa received two places and Oceania was given one spot.