The Malaysian team competing in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022 has named Muhammad Najmi Farizal Jazlan.as their captain.
Najmi however had to return to his home in Perlis early this morning after getting news that his father-in-law had passed away. But he will be back tonight (last night) or today. The team has an off day tomorrow (Sunday).
Other team members in the 18-man squad are Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman (goalkeeper), Mohd Zaimi Mat Deris, (goalkeeper), Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim, Muhammad Syafiq Hassan, Zulpidaus Mizun, Muhammad Aminuddin Mohd Zain, Muhammad Firhan Ashaari , Faiz Helmi Jali, Muhammad Azuan Hassan, Nik Muhammad Aiman Nik Rozemi, Muhammad Amirul Hamizan Azahar, Muhammad Najib Abu Hassan, Norsyafiq Sumantri, Mohamad Ashran Hamsani, Tengku Nasrul Ikmal, Shello Silverius and Muhammad Azrai Abu Kamal.
Meanwhile, National hockey coach A. Arul Selvaraj said that he is counting on playing time acquired by players in the squad to make up for the loss of experience of players who failed to make the squad owing to injuries.
The 18-squad has two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and six strikers.
“Although they were injured they continued to train with the team in other aspects like gym work, rehabilitation programme and fitness and strength,” said Arul.
“All the injured players are in Ipoh undergoing treatment and recovery training, as they are part of the squad with the hope that they will be available for upcoming tournaments – Nations Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa, from Nov 28-Dec 4, the World Cup in January and Asian Games in Hangzhou in September,” added Arul.
“When we got news that Najmi’s father-in-law passed away, we told him to return to Perlis to make the necessary arrangements and be with his wife. It is best he went because otherwise he will not have peace of mind and his family too might be happy with him,” said team manager Datuk Mirawan Nawawi.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani team checked into the Impiana Hotel Ipoh late yesterday evening and was greeted by Perak Hockey Association president Sayuti Abdul Samat and his committee while the Korean team checked-in in the early hours of this morning (Oct 30).
Source – PHA media team