Player fatigue threatens TNB campaign as MHL resumes

KUALA LUMPUR: The second round of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) begins on Monday, and it has caused havoc for league leaders Tenaga Nasional (TNB) and their season campaign.

TNB will face the Armed Forces on Wednesday at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil but 11 of their players will only be arriving on Monday from the Asian Games.

Malaysia were defeated 5-1 by defending champions India in the Asiad final in Nagoya on Saturday.

The first round of MHL ended on May 17 with TNB leading the standings on 19 points from six wins and a draw, followed by Maybank and Terengganu Hockey Team with 17 and 14 points respectively.

TNB coach Madzli Ikmar said the 11 national players would be tired after playing three consecutive tournaments at the Nations Cup in South Africa in June, the World Cup in Belgium in August and the Asian Games, which ended on Saturday.

"The 11 players need a good rest after playing so many international matches. I have to use the other 12 players in the training squad in the MHL.

"I am having a headache as I also need to use national players to play in the league to do well. I have decided that players who played a few matches in the Asian Games would play in the match against Armed Forces," said the former national captain Madzli.

Madzli added that the other issue was that the national team would also feature in the six-nation Asian Champions Trophy in Punjab, India from Oct 27 to Nov 5.

"Again, national players from TNB would be released to play in the tournament. I know that the priority is the national team, but if all 11 players feature in the tournament, then how are we going to play with the remaining 12 players in MHL?

"I will leave it to the team management to decide whether they want to release national players for the tournament," said Madzli.

The MHL will break on Nov 14 as the national team prepares for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh from Nov 22-29 before the national league resumes for the knockout stage on Dec 2.