Start early or face another miserable run at next junior hockey tourney

Solid experience: Malaysia’s 17-year-old Adam Ashraf Johari (left) was the youngest player in the squad at the Junior World Cup. — MHC

KUALA LUMPUR: Finishing 12th in the Junior World Cup is not entirely surprising for Malaysia as the team missed out on one fundamental rule – early preparation for a major event.

The Young Tigers fell four rungs short from their top eight target in the world meet, which ended yesterday at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.