# Sultan of Johor Cup team hit by injuries
National Juniors coach A. Arulselvaraj was forced to leave out two of his key players when naming the final squad for the 5th edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 Invitational International tournament.
The two regulars of the Sultan of Johor Cup Mohamed Sufi Ismat and Rafizul Ezry Mustafa – both kayoed by hamstring injuries.
However, the duo are still very much in Arul’s Junior Asia Cup team, provided they recover in time for the Asian meet which will be held in Kuantan from Nov 14-22.
The Junior Asian Cup will also serve as the qualifier for the Junior World Cup Finals which will be held in New Delhi, India in December 2016.
Malaysia, the inaugural champions in the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2011, could only manage a fifth place last year after defeating Pakistan in the playoff.
Arul has included three senior players in this year’s Sultan of Johor Cup – Shahril Saabah, Haziq Shamsul and Meor Mohamed Azuan – to beef up the team.
The six-nation Sultan of Johor Cup begins at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru on Sunday. India have won the silverware for the last two years and are the hot favourites to achieve a hat-trick.
Apart from India and Malaysia the other teams are Argentina, Australia, last year’s runners-up Great Britain and Pakistan.
Argentina are back in the fold after a year’s absence. The South American team made its debut in 2013 and finished third.
The Malaysian squad
Coach: A. Arulselvaraj
Assistant coaches: Jivan Mohan, Amin Rahim
Players:
Nik Aiman Nik Rozemi (Tganu), Asran Hamsani (Prk), Nor Azrul Rahman (KL),
Ridzwan Azmi (Mal), Adi Fazri Rahim (Pgn), Najib Abu Hassan (Prk), Meor Azuan Hassan (Prk), Haziq Samsul (Prk), Firdaus Omar (Mal), Khaliq Hamirin (Sab), Norsyafiq Sumantri )KL), Amirol Aideed Arshad (KL), Shahril Saabah (KL), Zulpidaus Mizun (KL), Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan (Prk), Azwar Rahman (Ked), Aminuddin Zain (Kel), Najmi Farizal Jazlan (Perlis).
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