Rajan sends out warning after dropping six Juniors

Mohamed Zakhwan, Mohamed Fareez Ismail and Mohamed Andika Norarahis were among those dropped when the National Juniors’ training squad were trimmed from 32 to 26 players yesterday.

The team are preparing for the Junior World Cup Finals, which will be co-hosted by Malaysia and Singapore from June 7-21.

Another three players — Aneskumar Shanmugan, Razlee Amir Mustafa and Khairul Azwan Hamid — were also dropped but they will be considered for selection if they show improvement in domestic tournaments over the next few months.

These three Under-20 players will travel with the team to Sydney for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) from Jan 14-18.

Three other players in the list of 26 players are un­­able to make the trip to Sydney due to injuries.

They are Hang Edzharsyah Hang Tuah, Mohamed Fi­­tri Bakar and goalkeeper Mohamed Asmawi Zaidi.

Coach K. Rajan said that the concentration for the team now was to move towards their final phase of training.

“The Under-20 players will get to play in the AYOF. I want to warn the players not to take their places for granted as every match will count towards the final selection.

“We are running out of time and the players must work harder,” he said.

Rajan retained 17 of the players registered in the team for the recent Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

In Sydney, the team will also play seven friendly matches against club sides. In the AYOF, they will be up against Britain, Australia and India.

“We will get some good matches in Australia and it will be a good guide on the players’ ability to play on the bigger stage,” said Rajan.

The 26-man squad

Abdul Hakim Adnan, Mohamed Hairi Abdul Rahman, Mohamed As­­mawi Zaidi, Mohamed Kazamirul Nasruddin, Wong Khe Hon, Mohamed Noor Khairul, R. Nadesh, Mohamed Syafiq Mohamed Zain, Mohamed Jamil Saidin, Mohamed Faisal Kamaruddin, Abdul Termidzi Ismail, Khairul Annuar Mat Isa, Shaheeb Shah Halim Shah, Mohamed Azaami Adabi, Hang Edzharsyah Hang Tuah, Harvinder Singh, Faisal Shaari, Mohamed Marhan Jalil, Kavin Kartik, Mohamed Izzat Rahim, Azreen Rizal Nasir, Mohamed Sybrie Shamsuddin, Izwan Firdaus, Mohamed Sabri Mohamed, Mohamed Nor Hafiq Abdul Ghaffar, Mohamed Fitri Bakar.