Mirnawan Cuptobe annual tourney

PETALING JAYA: The inaugural Mirnawan Cup organised by Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) will become an annual affair to give the Under-17 and Under-14 players under the National Hockey Development Programme (NHDP) international exposure.

The boys’ event was an Under-17 event while the girls’ competition was for the Under-14 category and both events had three foreign teams from India (Spirts Odisha), Japan and Singapore.

The Mirnawan Cup was held at the National Hockey Stadium from Nov 26-Dec 2 where Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) emerged as the boys’ Under-17 champions beating Japan 4-1 in the final while the girls’ Under-14 title went to Sports Odisha who beat SSMTI girls 5-0.

MHC deputy president Datuk Dr S. Shamala, who is also the development committee chairman, said the players under the NHDP programme were delighted to get the chance to play in an international tournament at a very young age.

“It is MHC’S first international tournament involving the NHDP players and we had a big number of them benefiting from the Mirnawan Cup. We had three foreign teams competing in the event and it was a quality exposure for our players,” said Shamala.

“We will make the Mirnawan Cup an annual affair and we are also looking forward to inviting more international teams to compete so that our players will be able to raise their level by playing against top class juniors.

“SSTMI boys won the title while the girls were runners-up and it was a good exposure for them too.

“We picked the NHDP teams based on zones and we are also looking at two teams from each zone next year instead of one.”

The NHDP teams were divided in north, south, east and west zones for the girls’ events and they were joined by SSTMI, Sports Odisha and Singapore

The boys event had SSTMI, Bukit Jalil Sports School, Sports School Malaysia Sabah, Perak Schools Sports Council, NHDP Tigers, Sports Odisha, Japan and Singapore.

Shamala also added that they have engaged in discussions with Sports Odisha and Japan to allow the teams under the NHDP programme to be invited for age-group competitions played in those countries.

But Mirnawan Cup will be the main agenda for the NHDP programme where a bigger representation of foreign teams is expected to make the event a worthwhile effort from MHC to beef up junior development in the country.