Two youngsters to replace experienced Nurul

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will not have the services of national forward Nurul Nabila Mansor for the women’s World Series Hockey tournament in Singapore from June 23-July 1.

Nurul, who has represented Malaysia in tournaments for the last six years including the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, is two months pregnant.

Two youngsters – fifteen-year-old Kiran Kaur and Hasya Syahida Saifuddin, 17, – have been called up to replace the experiences Nurul.

National coach K. Dharmaraj had watched forward Kiran play in domestic tournaments since she was 11 and said Hasya deserved her spot in the national training squad.

“Kiran is a talented player, who can be groomed into a world-class player and Hasya, too,” said Dharmaraj.

“I want young players to be drafted into the training squad to give them early exposures.

Six teams – hosts Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Thailand – will feature in the World Series, which is the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The top two teams in the World Series will advance to the second round of the tournament.

Under the guidance of Dharmaraj, world No. 22 Malaysia stunned world No. 12 Japan 3-2 to finish fourth in the five-nation Asian Champions Trophy in Donghae City, South Korea, last month.