JOHOR BAHARU, Aug 30- Malaysia has a good chance of winning the bid to host the World Cup Hockey 2018, according to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC).
MHC vice-president, Majid Manjit Abdullah said Malaysia was expected to compete against India, Australia and New Zealand to garner the support of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the right to organise the tournament.
“We had submitted a strong bid (to host the Hockey World Cup 2018) in Lausanne last week and the chances (of winning the bid) are quite good,” he told reporters, in Johor Baharu, Thursday.
He was speaking at a news conference in conjunction with the launch of the Sultan of Johor Under-21 Hockey Invitational Championship which will be held at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium from Sept 21 to 29.
Also present at the launch were the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
Malaysia had organised the World Cup Hockey championship twice before, in 1975 when the country won fourth placing, and in 2002.
The World Cup Hockey 2014 will be held in the Netherlands.
Majid said the Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey Championship would be participated by six teams including the two top ranking teams, Argentina and England.
Apart from Malaysia, three other teams which have confirmed their participation are Pakistan, India and South Korea while South Africa had pulled out at the last minute.
“What is interesting is that all the teams participating in the Sultan of Johor Cup are also involved in the World Cup Junior Hockey championship in India in December,” said Majid.
He said all the teams involved would feature their strongest squads in Johor Baharu as their final preparation before the World Cup Junior Hockey in India.
-BERNAMA
