JOHOR BAHRU, 17 Oct – With the Covid-19 forcing this year’s Sultan of Johor Cup to be canceled, the 10th edition of the annual Under-21 hockey invitational has been scheduled for September next year with four teams already confirmed.
Crowd pullers India, Australia, Great Britain, and host Malaysia are the early confirmed entries for the tournament which will be played at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium from Sept 5-12.
Johor Hockey Association (JHA) President, Dato Manjit Majid Abdullah (pic below) said invitations have also been sent out to Germany, Belgium, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand while expecting the other two remaining teams to confirm their participation.
The much sought after tournament is a six-nation meet but calls have also been made to increase the number of teams.
However, the logistics and cost factor has been a major drawback.
”It is unfortunate that this year’s SOJC had to be postponed because of the pandemic but hopefully all will be in order next year. Teams have been deprived of hockey tournaments and we pray that borders will be open soon for next year’s sporting activities,” said Manjit.
Manjit was returned unopposed as the new JHA president at last Thursday’s biennial JHA elections.
A former vice-president of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), the widely traveled Manjit was also a national team manager in 1986.
The SOJC is the only annual international Under-21 tournament in the world and is featured in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) calendar.
The tournament is the brainchild of the two royalties – the Sultan of Johor and the present Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al Sultan Abdullah who was the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang then.
The tournament was born after Johor Bahru hosted the Junior World Cup Finals in 2009 together with Singapore and did not want to leave the stadium as a white elephant.
The Junior World Cup final was played at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium which has world-class facilities.
Malaysia was the inaugural champions of the Sultan of Johor Cup after defeating Australia 3-2 in extra time with the score tied at 2-2 in regulation time.
Great Britain is the only team to have won the title three times (2015, 2018, 2019) while India (2013, 2014) and Australia (2016, 2017) have won the Cup twice each.
Germany won the title once and this was in 2012 with a 3-2 win over India in the final.
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