KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17: The Six Nations Invitational tournament opening here Friday will offer a sneak preview of next month’s World Cup as six top teams battle it out in the field hockey curtain-raiser.
The presence of world champions the Netherlands is the main draw card at Malaysia’s National Hockey Stadium, which will also host the World Cup, for the invitational tournament running until Jan 26.
The other teams taking part are Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Pakistan, all of whom have qualified for the World Cup proper.
The Netherlands and Australia start as favourites for the competition, which will offer the sides an invaluable opportunity to take stock of the conditions they will face in next month’s main event.
But Pakistan as usual will threaten and it will be interesting to see if star striker Shahbaz Ahmad can prove whether he has the staying power to make the World Cup squad proper.
He will be playing in his second tournament since returning to competitive hockey in the Champions Trophy here last month, a battle among the countries ranked seventh through 12th which was won by India.
Shahbaz is clearly not fit and may find it difficult to shine in the tropical humidity of Malaysia.
In their opening match Friday, Pakistan will face a Dutch side depleted by the absence of penalty corner specialist Bram Lomans, who picked up a groin injury in training Thursday morning.
“We will miss his presence no doubt but we have other players who will be able to take the penalty corners just as effectively,” Dutch coach Joost Bellaart said.
“Matches against Pakistan have always been exciting and we expect it to be the same tomorrow,” he said.
Hosts Malaysia have also been dealt a severe blow by the departure of their own penalty corner master, S. Kuhan, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
Australia’s coach Barry Dancer believes the invitational is the perfect proving ground for the sides to get into shape for the World Cup.
“We are short on match practice and here we have got quality teams to provide the test. We are happy to be here and we are also happy the timing is good,” he said.
In the other opening-day matches, Australia take on New Zealand while Malaysia face Japan.—AFP