Three Sukma players get national call-up

KUALA LUMPUR: Goalkeeper Muhd Zaimi Mat Deras of Terengganu is one of the three Malaysia Games ( Sukma) players called up for the Under-21 six-nation Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Baru.

The other Sukma players for the Oct 6-13 tournament are forward Muhajir Abdu Rauf of Sabah and midfielder Adam Aiman Mamat of Melaka.

National junior coach Nor Saiful Zaini said he was impressed with the three Sukma players and believed they were ideal replacements in the absence of seven key players – Muhd Hamiz Mohd Ahir, Muhd Arif Syafie Ishak, Mohd Akhimullah Anuar Esook, Muhd Amirul Hamizan Azhar, Muhd Muhibuddin Moharam, Syarman Mat Tee and Muhd Noor Firdaus Rosdi.

“The seven of them will feature in the Youth Olympics Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which also begins on Oct 6,” said Nor Saiful, adding that they would be at a disadvantage as they lacked match exposure.“It’s going to be a challenge for us to put up a strong performance against the other teams in the absence of seven key players.”

The national juniors will play a friendly match against Australia on Oct 2 and Britain on Oct 3 before they open their campaign against reigning world junior champions India on Oct 6.

Malaysia’s other matches are against defending champions Australia (Oct 7), New Zealand (Oct 9), Britain (Oct 10) and Japan (Oct 12). The final is on Oct 13.

Last year, Australia beat Britain 2-0 for the title while India outplayed Malaysia 4-0 to finish third.