‘Comeback chance’ for three players

THE Malaysian men’s hockey team began their World Cup and Olympic qualification preparations by naming 28 trainees, including three “new” entries.

Their training started yesterday with 25 regulars, while Zaimi Mat Deris, Izad Hakimi and Shahril Saabah made a comeback.

The trainees were selected based on their Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) performances, and Tenaga Nasional were the biggest provider with 12 players.

Seven were from Maybank, six from Terengganu Hockey Team and three from UiTM HA.

Coach Arul Selvaraj gave his reasons for including former players.

“I recalled Zaimi because he took up the challenge to wrest back his national jersey and as for Shahril, we dropped him earlier because of his unsatisfactory work rate.

“However, during the recent MHL, he not only displayed a high work rate, but also scored penalty corner goals,” said Arul.

And the reason for selecting Izad Hakimi is that Arul found him to be spirited.

“Hakimi was dropped from the squad because he picked up an injury and had a slow recovery. But in the MHL, Izad displayed a ‘spirit to fight’ while playing for UiTM HA.

“He displayed good leadership, and handled the defenders very well.”

The training squad will be trimmed to 22 before they head to Perth and play five matches against World No 1 Australia on April 21-28. Jugjet Singh

TRAINEES — Goalkeepers: Hafizuddin Othman, Adrian Andy Albert, Zaimi Mat Deris; Defenders: Razie Rahim, Marhan Jalil, Najmi Farizal, Syed Syafiq Cholan, Syafiq Hassan, Arif Syafie, Izad Hakimi.

Midfielders: Azuan Hassan, Aminuddin Zain, Faiz Helmi, Zulpidaus Mizun, Firhan Ashaari, Aiman Nik Rozemi, Amirul Hamizan, Syarman Mat Tee, Najib Hassan, Faizal Saari, Ashran Hamsani, Ramadan Rosli, Tengku Nasrul Ikmal.

Strikers: Shello Silverius, Norsyafiq Sumantri, Azrai Aizad, Mujahir Asdu Rauf, Shahril Saabah.