Young Tigers To Debut At All-India MCC Murugappa Hockey Gold Cup

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- The National Junior Men's Hockey Squad will make a debut at the 96th edition of the All-India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Championship scheduled for July 10-20, the first time an international side is participating in the competition.

The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) said the national squad, nicknamed the Young Tigers, will use the appearance as a warm-up for the 2025 Sultan of Johor Cup in October and the FIH Men's Junior World Cup (Nov 28-Dec 10; in Chennai and Madurai) in India.

The MHC statement said Malaysia would face four Group B matches, starting with a game against India Navy on July 12 at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai.

Young Tigers are next scheduled to meet Central Board of Direct Taxes on July 13, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Ltd (July 15) and conclude the Group B stage competition by meeting Hockey Karnataka on July 16.

The Young Tigers, along with India Navy and Central Board of Direct Taxes are three new teams included for the first time.

National junior men's head coach Nor Saiful Zaini expressed hope that participation in the tournament would improve the players' performance and achieve the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) set by the team, as well as form a better understanding among the players.

"They (Young Tigers) need to achieve their own KPI for the position and complete their respective tasks as best as possible, besides having to work even harder to improve team play.

"This tournament is considered important because it is a barometer of the weaknesses and strengths of the team. This can help improve any glitches before the Sultan of Johor Cup and the 2025 Junior World Cup," he said in the statement issued by MHC today.

The Young Tigers will depart for Chennai, India, tomorrow at 9.30 am with 18 players and seven officials.

-- BERNAMA