Coach Stephen to gauge his players in matches against Kiwis

KUALA LUMPUR: For the 23 players in the national hockey team, the two Test matches against New Zealand will decide their fate for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

But more importantly today’s and tomorrow’s matches will give them a chance to stamp their mark for the June World Hockey League SemiFinals in London.

National coach Stephen van Huizen said all the players will be given a chance to play before dropping four players.

“But generally we already have the team in mind and will field players with a mixed blend,” he said.

The two teams have met seven times since last year. They played in Auckland in March last year where the hosts won twice and drew once while Malaysia won once.

They also met in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup twice with the matches ending in 3-3 draws.

In November, they played in a four-nation meet in Australia and that match ended 1-1.

Four players who were left out of the World Hockey League Round Two in Dhaka will be back in action.

Haziq Mohamed Shamsul and Faizal Saari will return from injuries. Goalkeeper S. Kumar, who is a shoo-in between the posts, withdrew due to personal reasons while forward Mohamed Firhan Azhaari sat out as he got married.

The fight for places is expected to be tough. “At this stage I will say that the door is not shut on any player. We want to pick the best possible squad from the Test,” he added.

Malaysia finished fourth in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup while New Zealand took third place last year.

The other teams in Ipoh are defending champions Australia, India and Japan.

All six teams have qualified for the World Hockey League Semi-Final.