Megat Azrafiq will be back to marshall defence in Azlan Shah Cup

Megat Azrafiq Megat Termidzi will be back to marshal the national team's defence in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, which will be held in Ipoh from May 8-18.

Azrafiq was not in the team for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Japan early this month after suffering a shin injury in a friendly match against South Korea last month.

However, another defender and penalty corner specialist Zulkifli Rejab continues to be out of the team because he has not recovered from a knee injury he sustained last November.

Veteran defender S. Kuhan is a doubtful starter as he is still nursing a groin injury he suffered in the Olympic qualifiers.

National coach Sarjit Singh said: “We have to wait for a few days more to know whether Kuhan can play in the tournament.”

He added that they had again called up Jiwa Mohan, who quit the team after fulfilling his one commitment to come out of retirement to play for Malaysia in the Olympic qualifiers.

“We need Jiwa's services to beef up the defence and also the penalty corners. We have set a target of finishing among the top three position in the tournament,'' said Sarjit.

The other defenders in the team are Mohd Madzli Ikmar, Mohd Amin Rahim, Baljit Singh Charun, Baljit Singh Sarjab and Engku Abdul Malek Engku Mohamed.

Sarjit added that there were 30 players in training and they would name the final squad of 18 players on Sunday.

“We will play two friendly matches against the national juniors on Thursday and Friday before finalising the team,'' he said.

Malaysia will open their campaign against Pakistan on May 8. The other teams in the fray are Argentina, Canada, Belgium, New Zealand and India.

Last year, Malaysia were beaten 1-3 by Australia in the final.