KUALA LUMPUR – Former national hockey player Datuk Seri N. Sri Shanmuganathan has called for the current management of the Malaysia Hockey Confederation (MHC) to step down following the national men’s hockey team’s debacle during the Paris Olympic qualifiers in Oman.
The Speedy Tigers failed in their mission to end their 24-year absence from the Olympics hockey competition after finishing bottom in Pool A with one point from three matches.
Under the guidance of head coach Arul Selvaraj, Malaysia lost two consecutive matches against China (3-2) and Great Britain (4-1) and drew their final match against Pakistan (3-3) on Thursday.
The three-time Olympian (1968, 1972, and 1976) advocated for a revamp of the entire MHC management and proposed the introduction of an independent coaching panel to elevate the standard of the national hockey landscape.
“If the management has some dignity, they should admit their failure in leading the team to Olympic qualification and step down. I personally believe that those in charge of the management should be people who understand the sport.
“It’s sad to witness the current state of the sport as we have consistently failed after last qualifying for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The team’s performance has been horrifying to watch over the past couple of years due to bad strategies and tactical decisions.
“If things continue in this manner, I won’t be surprised if we miss out on the world’s top 20 ranking in the years to come.
“The governing body needs to set up an independent coaching panel where former players with expertise in the game can question the coaches’ decisions and tactics.
“MHC used to have that in the past, but now they don’t have it. They only have a manager, and I don’t think he’s effective enough to question the coach’s decisions and wrongdoings.
“There should also be scouting and a lot of development training in all states in our country, instead of relying solely on the Malaysian Hockey League to kickstart and get the right players for the team,” said Shanmuganathan.
The 77-year-old legend also pointed out that the coaches hired by MHC should be creative in coming up with their gameplay strategies instead of emulating the strategies used by foreign nations.
He urged MHC to send local coaches to analyse and study the foreign teams’ gameplay instead of overly depending on hiring foreign coaches for the national team.
“We have lost our identity. We were known for our fast-paced hockey and playing with one-touch movements.
“Now, we are trying to emulate what the foreigners are doing by playing high flicks and depending on penalty corners to win a match, in which we also have a low conversion rate.
“For us to be a top 10 hockey powerhouse nation in the world, we need to be leaders, not followers. Whatever tactics the foreign coaches bring into the team could be something new for our players, but it can be ancient for our opponents, especially the European teams.
“Of course, we will lose against these teams because they have been using the same strategy for years. MHC should perhaps send a few local coaches abroad and make them learn their strategies and the way they play so that we can do better than them instead of emulating them.
“We will continue to get humiliated in tournaments and fail to qualify for the Olympics in the next editions if we don’t make the change starting from now,” added Shanmuganathan, who captained the 1975 World Cup team that finished fourth at Stadium Merdeka.
Meanwhile, Sports Commissioner Suhardi Alias echoed a similar sentiment and urged MHC to shift its priority to development and its periodisation programmes.
“I think MHC needs to look at their performance through a comprehensive and holistic approach. They need to return to their drawing board as there may be a need to strengthen their development program.
“A detailed analysis needs to be done as independently as possible to analyse their strengths and weaknesses and address them accordingly. If there is a need to review their programme and relook at their periodisation program, it should be done in an orderly manner – based on science, and data-driven.
“At this moment, if possible, MHC should study their performance and develop a detailed strategic plan and KPIs for their programs. We may have to study how China managed to develop their hockey athletes within a very short period to achieve such tremendous improvement,” said Suhardi.
Malaysia’s disappointing run in the Paris Olympics has seen its ranking drop from world number 10 (before the Hangzhou Asian) to world number 14 in four months with a total of 1773.09 points.
The Speedy Tigers will next take on world number eight Canada in the fifth-place classification match today after defeating Chile 5-0 in their fifth-to-eighth-place classification match yesterday. – January 21, 2024