The Malaysian Hockey Confederation have named a strong and experienced women’s squad for the eight-team Asia Cup competition, which will be held at Malaysia’s National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur from Sept 21-27.
The tournament is a qualifier for the greatly anticipated 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup, which takes place in The Hague, Netherlands.
The squad is made up largely from long standing, experienced members, although two players from the national junior side have forced their way into the set-up.
Eighteen-year-old Fatin Shafika Mohd Shukri has been selected for her third big tournament, having featured in the Hockey World League Rounds 1 and 2. The other youngster is 20-year-old Nor Azlin Sumantri.
The team will be captained by 28-year-old Nadia Abdul Rahman, who has 100 caps to date. The full squad can be found below.
The eight edition of the Women’s Asia Cup will gets underway on 21 September. It will be the first time that Malaysia has hosted this tournament.
Defending champions China are also the highest ranked team in Asia will start the event as favourites, although three time winners Korea will be a serious contender. Japan and India have are also previous winners of the competition and are expected to challenge for the honours.
Although considered to be outsiders, Malaysia are rapidly closing the gap on the other competing nations and will be looking to perform on home soil. Kazakhstan, Hong Kong China and Chinese-Taipei will also feature in the event.
To see the match schedule for the tournament, please click here . More information about the event can be found on the Asian Hockey Federation website by clicking here.
Malaysia squad – women’s Asia Cup
Goalkeepers: Farah Ayuni Yahya, Siti Noor Hafiza Zainordin.
Defenders: Julaini Mohd Din, Siti Shahidah Saad, Raja Noorsharina Raja Shabuddin, Nuraini Abdul Rashid, Norhashikin Halim, Siti Nor Amarina Ruhani.
Midfielders: Nadia Abdul Rahman, Rabiatul Adawiyah Mohd, Noor Hasliza Md Ali, Fatin Shakira Mohd Shukri, Nor Izaidah Ibrahim.
Forwards: Norbaini Hashim, Siti Rahmah Othman, Fazilla Sylvester Silin, Nurul Nabihan Mansor, Nor Azlin Sumantri.
Source material: MHC
