KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) plans to have permanent players for the men’s and women's indoor hockey squads in the future.
MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said what happened at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, opened MHC’s eyes to ensure that the national indoor hockey squads are lined up with players on a permanent basis since Malaysia has great potential to dominate these events.
“We need to find permanent indoor players, because before this we just brought on senior field hockey players into the indoor hockey squads to make the teams stronger.
“To give full support to the indoor hockey squads, MHC wants to establish a full-time programme for the players, especially with the World Cup qualification starting next year,” he told reporters here.
Regarding the performance of the men and women’s indoor hockey squads at the SEA Games, he said that he is still proud of their achievements despite failing to defend the gold after only bringing home two silver in Cambodia.
He said the national squads faced financial constraints and only had a month to undergo full-time training, especially in the fasting month after they were busy with commitments with the field hockey teams.
In contrast, challengers like Indonesia and Thailand had reportedly invested millions of ringgit into building their teams’ readiness, including going on an international tour for a year before the SEA Games.
“For the women’s indoor squad, I am proud of them…we played against Asian champions Thailand, and they could still match the opponents, as we only lost in the penalty shootout.
“As for the men’s squad, we did well and still went to the final.
“Despite leading 3-0 against Indonesia, we let in three goals (in 16 minutes) to them, and I’ve already got the reasons on what actually happened during the discussion with coaches,” he said.
The women’s squad lost 1-2 in the penalty shootout after they were tied 0-0 at full time with Thailand in the final while the men’s team lost to Indonesia, also on penalties, 1-2, after a 3-3 draw.
At the same time, Subahan said he is proud of the ability possessed by the former manager of the national women's field hockey squad, Muhammad Dharma Raj Abdullah, in his efforts to develop and advance the Indonesian men's and women's national teams since he was appointed technical director of hockey by the republic in March 2021.
Indonesia’s hockey has shown a sharp improvement in performance since the arrival of Dharma Raj.
Most recently, he led their men’s indoor team to create history by winning their maiden gold at the Cambodia SEA Games through their victory over Malaysia in the final.
Meanwhile, Subahan is optimistic that indoor hockey will probably be organised regularly at the SEA Games after this, as competition is seen to be more balanced for the event compared to field hockey, which has seen Malaysia nearly indefatigable by other regional countries. – Bernama, June 4, 2023
