KUALA LUMPUR: Teenage hockey player Muhammad Adam Ashraf Mohd Johari is determined to be a part of the new-look Speedy Tigers who will be competing in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Perak in May.
The 18-year-old said he will strive to impress national hockey team head coach Sarjit Singh (pix) by showcasing his capability during the ongoing two-week national training camp.
“Feeling nervous having to fight (for places) with the senior players. If it’s meant to be, then great as I aim to make the senior team. Otherwise, I will continue to focus on being a junior player.
“I feel like I have an advantage in terms of skill and fitness... the coach had no problems with me in the eight matches during the trials,” he said before the Speedy Tigers’ training session at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil here recently.
The Kelantan-born teenager, however, admitted to being surprised to receive a call-up from Sarjit to join the training camp, especially since he did not feature in the recent Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
The youngster was not called up by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) for the local league but he did feature in the 2023 Junior World Cup (JWC) last December, where he scored three goals for Malaysia, one each against Chile, New Zealand and Belgium.
A total of 42 out of the 46 players called up by Sarjit have reported for duty for the March 20-31 national training camp.
The training camp is to enable Sarjit and his coaches to look at the capabilities of every player before finalising the 30-man team to form the new-look Speedy Tigers for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (May 4-11) in Ipoh, Perak and the FIH Hockey Nations Cup (May 30-June 9) in Gniezno, Poland.
All the players are divided into three groups and they will play against one another in eight matches before the final list of players is released on April 1. -Bernama
