Experienced Mohd Razie Rahim (left) is one of six World Cuppers to be retained for the Commonwealth Games - filepic
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) have retained only six World Cuppers for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Of the 16 members in the World Cup squad, only Mohamed Razie Rahim, Mohamed Firhan Azhaari, Faiz Helmi Jali, Mohamed Ramadan Rosli, Mohamed Rashid Baharom and Mohamed Shahril Saabah were included in the final 16-man squad for the July 23-Aug 3 Games.
Malaysian-born defender Kevin Lim, who previously played for Germany, also made the team. He was included for the World Cup but was replaced at the 11th hour due to a hamstring injury in training in The Hague, Holland, last month. Malaysia finished last in the 12-team World Cup.
National coach K. Dharmaraj also included two seniors — Baljit Singh and S. Selvaraju — in the team to give them a chance to prove their worth for the Incheon Asian Games challenge in September.
“There is no target set for the team, but we will try our best to get a good result. The main objective is to expose the younger players and give the other seniors a chance to get into the Asiad squad,” he said.
Baljit, a defender, did not play in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the Champions Challenge 1 and the World Cup this year despite being a regular in previous years.
“I have left out many regulars as some of them are tired after playing in the World Cup. Our priority is the Asiad and the Glasgow outing is merely an opportunity for the players to learn,” said Dharmaraj.
At the Commonwealth Games, Malaysia will open their campaign in Group B against Canada (July 26) followed by England (July 27), Trinidad and Tobago (July 29) and New Zealand (July 31).
Australia, the defending champions, are in Group A with India, Wales, South Africa and Scotland.
On Tuesday, the MHC also named a 16-woman team for the Glasgow challenge. All the players who helped Malaysia win the recent World League Round 1 in Singapore were retained.
| The Teams | |||||
| Men: | Baljit Singh, Izwan Firdaus, Firhan Ashaari, Rashid Baharom, Razie Rahim, Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin, Faiz Helmi, Hafizuddin Othman, Fitri Saari, Ramadhan Rosli, S. Selvaraju, Kevin Lim, Meor Azuan, Azri Hassan, Shazril Irwan Nazli, Shahril Saabah | ||||
| Women: | Nadia Abdul Rahman, Nuraini Rashid, Surizan Awang Noh, Norbaini Hashim, Fatin Shafika, Nurul Nabihah, Noor Hasliza Ali, Juliani Din, Robiatul Adawiyah, Raja Norsharina, Siti Noor Amarina, Siti Shahida, Norazlin Sumantri, Fazilla Sylvester Silin, Farah Ayuni, Siti Noor Hafiza | ||||
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