Malaysia's Razie Rahim (right) and New Zealand's Nick Wilson tussling for the ball during their Sultan Azlan Shah Cup match in Ipoh. SAIFUL BAHRI/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: The national hockey team will resume their training on Tuesday without two key players.
Skipper Mohamed Razie Rahim and Nabil Fiqri Mohamed Nor will be missing as both have joined the police force and will begin their mandatory training over the next nine months.
Another player from the list of 25 who will not show up is veteran goalkeeper S. Kumar who is recovering from an injury.
The team will train for 10 days before breaking camp to join their respective states for the Razak Cup tournament from May 21-29.
Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) chief executive officer K. Logan Raj confirmed that Razie and Nabil will not attend training.
“They have joined the police. But the rest except for those injured will continue their training. The next assignment for the national team is the six-match tour to Kakamigahara, Japan next month,” he said.
“All the players will be released to play in the Razak Cup and they will go through a review which is normal. It is up to the team management to make any changes to the squad based on the review,” he added.
The other major assignment for the national team is the Asian Champions Trophy in October where Malaysia has made a bid to host the tournament.
“There have been reports that we are the hosts but we have not received anything official from the Asian Hockey Federation. We hope to get some word soon,” he said.
The national team’s immediate target is to retain their place in the World Cup Finals in 2018. The qualifying process started last month with the World Hockey League First Round. Malaysia will play in Round Two which is slated for next year.
The national team and the development squad will play in the Australian Hockey League in September. Malaysia will also take part in two four-nation tournaments in Australia in October.
