Stay sharp always, otherwise forget the Olympics, hockey players warned

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) president Sultan Azlan Shah has reminded the national players to be on their toes throughout the Olympic qualifier in Dublin from March 10-18.

Sultan Azlan Shah, who is also the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) president, said the national team had always been vulnerable in the first five and the last five minutes of a match.

This was obvious against India in the Champions Challenge I in Johannesburg last December where Malaysia led 4-2 before collapsing to a 5-4 defeat.

“This must be avoided at all costs in Dublin if they harbour any hopes of qualifying for London Olympics,” said Sultan Azlan Shah, who had blasted the national team’s poor performance in the five friendly matches against China at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last month.

Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and AHF secretary Tan Sri P. Alagendra also watched the team train before 18 players were named for the qualifier.
Two young players – Mohd Fitri Saari, 19, and Mohd Izzat Mohd Rahim, 22, – were surprisingly included in the squad.

Midfielder Fitri, who has only two caps to his credit, will play along his more established brother Faisal.
Defender Izzat, meanwhile, has only eight caps to his credit.

All the 16 players who were members of the silver medal winning team at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games were retained.

The four players dropped from the training squad are experienced midfielder Kelvinder Singh, Mohd Firhan Ashaari, Amir Farid Ahmad Fuzi and Mohd Azammi Adabi.

National coach Tai Beng Hai said: “I have included the two youngsters in the team as some of regular players are carrying slight injuries.

“The team are ready to give their best after playing some quality matches against Australia and Holland.
“The pressure is on them to win the ticket to the London Olympics after failing in the last two qualifiers.”
The national team will leave for Cardiff on Feb 29 to play two friendly matches against Wales on March 2 and 4, before they open their campaign against Chile in the Olympic qualifier on March 10.

Malaysia’s other matches are against Russia (March 11), Ukraine (March 13), South Korea (March 15) and Ireland (March 17).

The final and classification matches are on March 18.



THE STAR