ONLY SIX NATIONS EXPECTED FOR SULTAN AZLAN SHAH CUP

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 (Bernama) -- Only six teams, the least in recent years, are expected to participate in the 18th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey stadium in Ipoh from April 3-12.

Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) secretary Hashim Mohamed said the annual
tournament, normally reserved for the top 20 countries in the world, will go on
as planned although some of the top hockey playing nations had decided to stay
away citing various reasons.

"We sent out invitations to defending champion Argentina, Belgium, Canada,
England, South Korea, China and Australia but they declined, due to reasons like
prior commitments, lack of finance, sponsors while some claimed they were busy
preparing for the World Cup in India next year," he told Bernama here Friday.

So far five countries, New Zealand, ranked seventh in the world, Pakistan
(8), India (11), Egypt (20) and Malaysia (15) as the host are confirmed while
either Japan or Ireland are expected to make it six.

"We are still waiting for confirmation from Japan and Ireland as Saturday is
the closing date. If both decline, we will invite teams preparing for the World
Junior Championship in Johor Baharu in June, including the Malaysian junior
squad," he said.

Meanwhile, the national senior squad currently under the guidance of
caretaker coaches Tan Beng Hai and Nor Saiful Zaini in the absence of a yet to
be appointed national coach, would also be competing in the Asia Cup in Dubai
from May 8-15 after the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

In the last edition of the tournament, the Malaysian team under Sarjit Singh
failed to make the semi-finals and MHF subsequently did not renew his contract
that expired on Dec 31.

The MHF are expected to name a new coach, purportedly a foreigner, soon.
-- BERNAMA