Only 14 teams to compete in Junior League

winners of the five two-leg ties on June 14 and 16 will join nine other teams in this season's Junior Hockey League (JHL).

The nine automatic qualifiers comprise the top eight teams in last season’s Division One and one from Division Two.

There were supposed to be two teams from Division Two but last year’s runners-up Malacca Warriors withdrew.

Only 14 teams will fight for honours this year following the Malaysian Hockey Confederation’s (MHC) decision to turn JHL into a competitive tournament by reducing the number of clubs.

JHL tournament director Daljit Singh said: “The 10 teams will be involved in the two-leg playoff but all matches will be held at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

“As for the women’s JHL, there will only be nine teams this year,” said Daljit.

Last year, there were 10 teams in Division One and 20 clubs in Division Two while the women’s section had 11 teams.

The nine automatic qualifiers from last year are SMS Resilient, PJCC Tigers, SMK Datuk Bentara Luar-UniKL, BJSS Thunderbolts, Anderson Thunderbolts, Penang HA, Pahang Thunderbolts, SSTMI Thunderbolts and SSTMI Juniors.

Sabah Juniors, Terengganu Sports Council, KL Sports School, KL Wipers, Tunku Besar Tampin, Negri HA, Hilander Boys, Kelantan HA, BJSS Juniors and Perlis Young Lions are those involved in the two-leg playoffs.

“MHC’s competitions committee will conduct an open draw for the qualifiers and teams from the state might end up playing against each other,” Daljit added.