Under-strength Selangor play down their chances

Selangor are not setting any target for the National Under-21 hockey tournament starting today at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Team manager Abdul Rahim Ahmad said that they had lost the services of six players, who are in training with the national junior squad.

“We have some new players in the team and we will use the tournament for them to gain exposure. Besides, we only had one week of training,” he said.

The 32 players in the national junior training squad have been barred from playing in the tournament.

Abdul Rahim said that their main priority was to prepare a strong team for Sukma (Malaysia Games) in Terengganu in May.

“We finished third in the Kedah Sukma last year and our aim in the coming Games is to reach the final,” he said.

Abdul Rahim added that they would face a daunting task in the tournament as they had only four experienced players who played in last year's Sukma, in the team.

They are defenders Mohd Zulfadli Adil and Mohd Abdul Jalil Razak, centre-half Zulfadli Mohd Isa and forward R. Devaraj.

“In preparing for the tournament, we played two friendly matches. We lost 1-2 to Negri Sembilan and drew 2-2 with KL. We are banking on Abdul Jalil to deliver the goals from penalty corners in the tournament.”

Selangor have been drawn in Group B with Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Perlis and Terengganu. Defending champions Perak are in Group A with Pahang, Negri, Penang, Kelantan and Kedah.

Abdul Rahim added that Malacca, KL and Johor had some good players in their ranks and saw them as strong contenders for the title.

Selangor open their campaign against Johor today. The final is scheduled for Jan 5.