KUALA LUMPUR: There will be no extension for the 37 national trainees to prove themselves to hockey head coach Arul Selvaraj as he intends to trim his squad to 25 players by the end of the month or early next month.
The trainees, who have to abide by Covid-19 guidelines following the two-week Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), reported for training on Oct 5.
"No, there will not be an extension to the one-month deadline announced earlier.
"The players, however, have put up a good fight in training.
The trainees are based at the National Sports Council hostel in Bukit Jalil," said Arul.
Arul had selected 38 players from the Razak Cup, but Harvinder Singh opted out due to work commitments.
"The newcomers in my squad were a little reserved initially and did not join the seasoned players. However, they opened up after a few days," Arul added.
Arul, together with assistant coach Amin Rahim and junior coach Wallace Tan, had to self-isolate for three days after coming in contact with a National Sports Institute dietician, whose housemate tested positive for Covid-19 recently.
There are six players in the senior squad eligible for junior tournaments.
Wallace's junior team are preparing for next year's Junior Asia Cup (JAC), a Junior World Cup qualifier.
The JAC is slated for Jan 21-30 in Dhaka. Wallace has 26 trainees in his squad, excluding the six in the senior team.