National Junior to play in club meet

The National Juniors have accepted an invitation to compete in the Asian Champion Clubs (ACC), which will be held at the KL Hockey Stadium on Nov 13-16.

Only five countries have entered their champion clubs for the meet, which is being revived by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) after a 15-year lapse. The AHF have invited the Juniors to make it a six-team affair.

Malaysia’s Ernst and Young are in Group A with the National Juniors and Thai Royal Air Force.

Pakistan’s Olympian Village Club, Singapore Recreation Club and Adijon of Uzbekistan are in Group B.

The top teams from each group will meet in the final, with the champions representing Asia in the inaugural World Club Championships in Barcelona in January.

The National Juniors, however, will not get to play in Barcelona if they win the tournament. The Juniors are preparing for the Junior World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Malaysia and Singapore from June 7-21.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) have announced the postponement of all matches involving Ernst and Young and the National Juniors on Nov 14 and Nov 16.

This will force the Malaysia Hockey League to be extended by 10 days. The final, initially slated for Dec 21, will be held at a new date to be announced later.