KUALA LUMPUR: The newly formed Under-18 national hockey team have been given a semi-final target in the Under-18 Asian Cup from July 3-13 at Dazhou National Hockey Training Centre in China.

The squad comprising young talents from schools across the country, were announced by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) yesterday. 

"Our target in China is to reach the semi-finals," said MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal.

The China-bound squad will be led by head coach Sufian Mohamad.

"The end goal is to assemble a team to compete at the Junior World Cup in India from Nov 29-Dec 10," added Subahan.