KUALA LUMPUR – National hockey head coach Sarjit Singh appears to be charting a bold course toward qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
It is believed that the coach, who is under a two-year contract with the Speedy Tigers, has taken a courageous step by dropping several superstar senior players, opting instead to call up mainly young talents for his inaugural training camp scheduled to take place in the coming days.
According to a highly placed source in the hockey fraternity, Sarjit has selected 45 players for the training camp and is focused on building a team from scratch with players aged between 19 and 25.
“This is going to be the boldest move made by a coach in the history of Malaysia. Several star players who failed to perform under the previous head coach, Arul Selvaraj, will be dropped.
“Sarjit has only selected three players who are above the age of 30-32 for the training while the rest of the 42 players are going to be young players who are fast and have a really good fitness level.
“Fitri Saari, Faizal Saari and veteran goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman are among the players who have been chosen for the training. Looking at how things are going, Sarjit will also be choosing more players from Terengganu, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and Maybank, which recently excelled in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
“This is going to be a team made for the long-term process and not for short-term results, which has been done by a few of the previous coaches. Sarjit has done this before by forming a young team, and he’s back with a formula that he’s very well used to,” said the source.
The source also added that the other goalkeepers expected to be called up for the training camp were Maybank’s Zaimi Mat Deris and Adrian Andy Albert, who played for Universiti Teknologi Mara in the MHL.
Faizal, 33, and Fitri, 31, were outstanding in the just-concluded MHL, with Faizal netting 23 goals for TNB Cup runners-up Terengganu.
His brother, Fitri, a midfielder, scored eight goals for the same team in the league.
TNB forward Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal, who emerged as the MHL’s top scorer with 32 goals, will likely be top of Sarjit’s list.
Meanwhile, 34-year-old Marhan Jalil, who led TNB to a treble this year, is expected to be dropped.
Rahul Hrsikesa Thaitchana Muruthi, a standout performer with 17 goals for Nurinsafi in the MHL, is one of the talents earmarked by Sarjit for a potential training call-up.
Alongside Rahul, young players such as Shamanth Chowdlu Sathish, Naaveennash Panicker, Perabu Tangaraja, Harjot Singh Gill and Wan Jun Yong have also been brought into the camp.
Sarjit will reveal his list of 45 trainees tomorrow, and they will gather for training on March 19 to prepare for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh from May 4-11. – March 11, 2024