Malaysia: Kuhan dropped from squad due to hamstring injury
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| Planet Field Hockey |
January 17, 2002 
The Star of Malaysia
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By S. RAMAGURU
KUALA LUMPUR: Centre-half S. Kuhan is out of the six-nation hockey tournament, which begins at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil here today.
On the advice of the National Sports Institute’s (NSI) director, Dr Ramlan Aziz, the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) selection committee dropped Kuhan when they named their final squad of 18 yesterday. Kuhan suffered a hamstring injury in training last week and is still seeking treatment at the NSI.
The MHF deputy president, Tan Sri P. Alagendra, said: “We understand that the injury is not a serious one.
“But Dr Ramlan told us that the player would run the risk of aggravating the injury and advised us against letting him play in the tournament.’’
In Kuhan’s absence, K. Keevan Raj will shoulder the burden of being the playmaker, beginning with the match against Japan.
The partners for Keevan are S. Shanker and Shaiful Azli. Two other players, Jiwa Mohan and K. Logan Raj, can also play midfield roles.
With Logan taking a midfield role, the selectors opted to bring in another forward. Youngster Fairuz Ramly got the nod and defender Mohamed Amin Rahim found himself out of the team again.
National coach Paul Lissek said: “Amin is a good player but for this tournament, Fairuz will be the better option to try out.”
Lissek added that he had full confidence in Keevan’s ability to perform the duties of a centre-half.
“In the (two friendly) matches against Pakistan, Keevan, together with Shanker and Shaiful, played well enough to give us control. Jiwa and Logan can also step in any time. We will try out all the players in the tournament. We need to reassess their performances in the various positions,’’ he said.
The team is basically the same as the one for the Champions Challenge except for Fairuz coming in for Kuhan. The other forwards are Mirnawan Nawawi, Chairil Anwar, Tajol Rosli and Mohamed Rodhanizam.
The fullbacks are Maninderjit Singh, Nor Azlan Bakar, Chua Boon Huat and Mohamed Madzli Ikmar.
The goalkeepers are Roslan Jamaluddin and Mohamed Nasihin Nubli.
Roslan played in all the matches in the Champions Challenge and was fielded in the first friendly match against Pakistan on Tuesday. Nasihin was fielded in the second match the following day and he made several saves and showed good judgment when defending penalty corners.
“I’m happy with Nasihin’s performance, especially in his decision-making when defending penalty corners. Players need to do things on their own initiative at times when we are experimenting. Nothing is lost here,” said Lissek.
In penalty corners taken by Sohail Abbas, Nasihin ran out to stop the Pakistanis from flicking the ball and he was successful on two occasions.
Lissek made it clear that the team named for the six-nation meet were not the final side for the World Cup Finals, which begin on Feb 24.
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