27 TEAMS SET TO FIGHT IT OUT IN MALAYSIA HOCKEY5S LEAGUE 2024

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 (Bernama) -- A total of 27 teams - 15 men's side and 12 women's outfits - will battle it out in the Malaysia Hockey5s League (Men and Women) 2024 championships at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on July 16-20.

Hockey5s and High-Performance Committee chairman Hasnizam Hassan is pleased with the increased participation compared to the 2023 edition where only 11 teams took part in the men's category and seven in the women's section.

He said this year's league will be a platform for the Hockey5s Committee to assess the players to be roped into the national team for the invitational tournament in Russia on Aug 15-20 and the Sixth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand on Nov 25-30.

"The difference with this third edition is that, although it is an open category, we have stipulated that each team must register three players aged 23 and below. This is to ensure we achieve our objective, which is to develop the sport of hockey5s (five-a-side hockey) in preparation for the 2028 World Cup.

"Although the next World Cup will be in 2028, we must make early preparations because these players aged 23 and below will need to gain as much exposure and experience as possible,” he said in a statement issued by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) today.

This year's tournament format will see the men's and women's teams divided into two groups.

For the men, Group A will have Pahang, Penang, Melaka, PDRM, Perlis, Sarawak and Perak while Group B will comprise ATM, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Kedah.

For the women, Group C will consist of Selangor, Penang, PDRM, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Johor; while Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, ATM, Melaka, Kelantan and Perak will make up Group D.

-- BERNAMA