Labuan and Project 2017 squad to make their debut in Razak Cup

Thursday, 24 March 2011

This looks good: MHF deputy president Nur Azmi Ahmad (right) launching the new logo for the 49th MHF-100Plus Razak Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday. On the left is Datuk Kamal Harun, the national corporate affairs manager of F&N beverages marketing Sdn Bhd. — LOW BOON TAT / The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Labuan and the Project 2017 national squad will make their debut in the 49th MHF-100Plus Razak Cup hockey tournament.
This year’s tournament enters a new era with the introduction of five zone qualifying competitions.

A total of 20 teams will feature in the qualifiers from May 27-July 3.

Labuan will feature in the west zone with Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. The Project squad, who are the national Under-16 team, will play in central zone with Perak, Selangor and Division One defending champions Kuala Lumpur.

The north zone comprises Perlis, Kedah, Penang and the Armed Forces. The east zone competition involves Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Police while the south zone will have Johor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Singapore.

The top two teams of the five zones will qualify for Division One while the bottom two teams will play in Division Two.

The final round of the tournament will be played at the Bukit Serendit Hockey Stadium in Malacca from July 21-30.

The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) deputy president, Nur Azmi Ahmad, said that the Razak Cup tournament previously was held over two weeks but now with zone qualifying competitions, teams would battle it out for two months.

“We are introducing the five zone qualifying competitions to determine only the best teams feature in Division One,” he said.

“The toughest qualifying competition will be in the central zone, which has 18-time champions KL and former winners Selangor and Perak.

“The inclusion of the Project 2017 squad, who will make their first appearance in the tournament, will be good exposure for the national Under-16 boys. We are also happy to have Labuan making their debut in the tournament.”

Nur Azmi together with Datuk Kamal Harun, the national corporate affairs manager of F&N beverages marketing Sdn Bhd, launched the new Razak Cup logo at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Kamal said that they were delighted to sponsor Malaysia’s premier hockey tournament, which was introduced in 1963.

“We will continue to support MHF to help them organise other major events in the country,” he said.