IPOH – National hockey head coach Sarjit Singh admitted that the Speedy Tigers need to appoint a performance/technical director to work with him in forming a formidable side for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Sarjit’s response came after his team’s 3-2 defeat against New Zealand in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup third-and-fourth place classification match at the Azlan Shah Stadium today.
With buzz within the hockey fraternity about the potential involvement of Kim Sang-ryul with the Speedy Tigers, the South Korean was spotted several times at the stadium watching Sarjit’s charges in action.
Regarded as one of the sport’s best coaches globally, the 69-year-old Sang-ryul was in Malaysia as a consultant for China’s Liaoning men’s and women’s teams that competed in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
Associated with an aggressive coaching style, Sang-ryul is well-known for his 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 systems, aiming for his players to burst onto the flanks instead of moving on relatively flat lines, which has been the norm in Malaysian hockey over the past four years.
The Korean guided China’s men’s team to silver at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and the women’s team to fifth place at the 2012 London Olympics.
He received his coaching certificate from India’s National Institute of Sports in Patiala in 1985 after studying under Olympic champion Balkrishan Singh.
Though Sarjit did not reveal the candidate for the position (performance/technical director), the 61-year-old coach said that he’s currently working with an experienced coach to analyse his young squad, with an average age of 25, to elevate their performance before the Asian Games.
“We need to build this team for the Asian Games, and the planning has to start now. The boys are still young and need a lot of training to reach their peak performance.
“For now, I have someone helping me and my team with their inputs for the betterment of our game.
“I can’t reveal his identity for now, but we will be making an announcement on our new performance/technical director soon,” said Sarjit during the post-match conference.
At the same time, Sarjit also accepted the reality of his side’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup campaign, noting that they were lucky not to suffer a heavy defeat against the Black Sticks in today’s match.
“I think we started off well in the game in the first quarter, but our man-marking was bad. However, we had full control of the match and couldn’t score in the last two quarters.
“We also had a chance to seal the match through a penalty stroke, but we were unfortunate to miss it.
“But overall, we were lucky to win several matches in this tournament. All we need to do now is shift our focus to the Nations Cup and use the remaining few weeks to train and improve,” Sarjit added.
Muhamad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored Malaysia’s opening goal in the third minute, delighting the Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim and an estimated 5,000 hockey fans who were at the stadium.
Scott Cosslett and Jonty Elmes took advantage of the Speedy Tigers’ recklessness at the end of the first quarter and the second quarter, giving the world number 10 side a 2-1 lead at halftime.
New Zealand continued to pile pressure on Malaysia and extended the lead to 3-1 with a penalty corner conversion by Dane Lett in the 48th minute.
Sarjit’s charges will play in the Nations Cup scheduled to take place in Poland from May 31 to June 9, with Malaysia being grouped with France, Canada, and Pakistan in Pool B. – May 11, 2024