TUN RAZAK CUP 2023

WELL, the Tun Razak Cup hockey tournament is back again.

Many fans got caught off guard when this once prestigious national competition was announced to start by officials from the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), recently.

Can’t blame them too as the focus was more on our national team participating in the just concluded Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

I believe, when A Arulselvaraj led Speedy Tigers team failed to qualify for the Asiad semi-finals, slowly the news of Razak Cup got better into their ears.

For the ardent hockey fans, it surely was a big let down by our national squad finishing a miserable sixth position losing 5-2 to Pakistan on October 6.

One would ask, the Razak Cup came too early just after the Asiad. But the dates were fixed and the show must go on.

This time MHC announced there will be no senior or junior national players involved in the competition that kicked-off on Wednesday (October 11) and ends on October 21.

A total of 73 national players (22 from men’s senior, 28 men’s junior dan 23 women’s team) are not allowed to compete as they have not received national clearance.

The men’s senior team players need to take a deserving break after a tiring mission in Hangzhou while the juniors will participate in the 11th Sultan of Johor Cup starting October 27 as part of their final preparation for the Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur this December.

The Razak Cup competition is being held in two venues at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil and Ministry of Education Hockey Stadium in Lembah Pantai.

Twenty-five teams confirmed participating and of the total, 13 will slog it in the men’s category while 12 in the women’s category divided in two groups.

Sarawak and Kelantan will not be taking part in both categories while Kedah sent only their men’s team and Sabah, the women side.
This year men’s category will feature teams from the Armed Forces (ATM), Perak, Johor, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Melaka, Perlis, Penang, Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Selangor and Kedah.

Meanwhile Penang, Selangor, ATM, Negri Sembilan, Sabah, Perak, Melaka, Pahang, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, PDRM dan Johore will battle for glory in the women’s section.

On the first day of the competition, defending champion, Perak started their quest for a fourth title in a row by beating Kuala Lumpur 3-1 in Group A. In another match, ATM defeated Negri Sembilan 4-2.

In Group, Selangor shared points with Pahang after a 3-3 draw while Malacca tied 2-2 with PDRM.

Majulah sukan untuk negara!

RESULTS

MEN

GROUP A
PERAK….3 KL….1
ATM……4 NS….2
T’GANU…1 JOHORE…3

GROUP B
PAHANG….3 SELANGOR…3
MELAKA….2 PDRM….2
PERLIS….2 PENANG…1

WOMEN

GROUP A
ATM….0 PENANG…0
SABAH….4 PERAK…1
SELANGOR 4 NS…1

GROUP B
TERENGGANU…0 PAHANG…3
PDRM….1 JOHORE 0
MELAKA…2   KL…2