🇲🇾 Malaysia Hockey : Coach Arulselvaraj names 28 players for Men’s National training camp

Dragflick Newsdesk : After the end of the TNB Malaysia Hockey League (TNB MHL) 2022 Championship at the end of last month, National Men’s Senior Squad Operator, A. Arulselvaraj today officially announced the list of 28 players called to join the National Men’s Senior Squad Training Camp.

The training session that started yesterday (Thursday, April 7) saw 25 players who had been with the national team before while three (3) players who were not on the list previously reported themselves.

Mohd Zaimi Mat Deris, Mohammad Izad Hakimi Jamaluddin and Muhammad Shahril Saabah are the three players who have been recalled with the national team and according to the list released today, the average age of the players called up is 25.7 years.

A total of 12 players are players who played with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in the TNB MHL 2022 campaign, seven players from Maybank, six players from Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) and three players from UiTM HA club.

While the breakdown of player positions based on the list of 28 players called up can be seen that three of them are goalkeepers, seven defenders, 13 players in the middle position and five strikers.

Commenting on the list of 28 players called to join the National Men’s Senior Squad Training Camp, National Coach, A. Arulselvaraj said his decision to call three new non -foreign faces in the national squad was due to the hard work and high percentage of work they had shown during the TNB Tournament.

“I called Zaimi back because he has put on an impressive performance at the TNB MHL 2022 Championship, besides he also proved that he took the challenge to reclaim his place with the national team.

“As for Shahril Saabah, we dropped his name from the previous list due to the unsatisfactory percentage of work on the field but during TNB MHL recently, he not only showed a good performance but also scored a goal including from a penalty corner.

“The percentage of his work on the field has also increased and he has shown a lot of improvement. Because of that, our coaching staff decided to call him back.

“Izad Hakimi, on the other hand, is a player with a high personality and spirit to fight. However, due to the injuries he suffered before, he was a little behind.

“During the match with UiTM HA Club in the recent league competition, he played in all matches. He plays well, gives pretty clear instructions on the defensive side and has a personality as a good leader.

“We can see that he meets all the criteria we need in the national team. Work as a team, work hard and keep trying as well as the attitude of not giving up easily, all shown by him so we decided to give him a chance, ”explained Coach Arulselvaraj.

In the same development, the national coaching staff will also evaluate the performance of players during several training sessions to be brought to participate in the Test Match Series in Australia against the Australian Main Squad which is currently ranked first in the world, next week.

The following is a list of 28 players called up to join the National Men’s Senior Squad training camp: