KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has made it clear that it does not have high hopes for the Speedy Tigers in the Nations Cup, with the primary purpose of the team’s participation being to give young players exposure to international matches.
The tournament, to be held in Gniezno, Poland, from May 31 to June 9, will feature nine teams participating in two pools: Austria, South Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, France, Malaysia, Pakistan and Poland.
A total of 20 players were chosen by head coach Sarjit Singh from a pool of 30 from his revamped side that recently competed in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and finished fourth.
Sarjit will announce his final 18-player squad for the Nations Cup after the Speedy Tigers’ friendlies against world number 10 New Zealand on May 27 and world number 14 South Africa on May 29.
The winner of the Nations Cup will qualify for the FIH Pro League.
Speaking to Scoop from Vancouver, MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal revealed that, initially, the governing body did not intend to send a team to the tournament.
However, they had to participate due to conditions set by the FIH, the international governing body for hockey.
“I don’t like to put targets on coach Sarjit as he just came on board and needs time to find his right set of players. We are no longer in need of chasing rankings and for our teams to win tournaments.
“At first, we were not keen on sending the team to the Nations Cup because, even if we win the tournament, we will have to play in the Pro League. The Pro League is for teams with money and is most beneficial for European teams in terms of cost efficiency.
“Apparently, the Nations Cup is the lower tier, but the catch is the FIH’s ruling that if we don’t play in the Nations Cup, it may affect our points system. That’s one reason why we joined the tournament.
“At the same time, Sarjit has a young team, and we would like to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics by winning the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Therefore, Sarjit needs to expose these young players to the best teams in the world, which is another reason why we decided to participate in the Nations Cup,” said Subahan when contacted.
Subahan also admits that Sarjit’s semi-final target in the tournament is realistic and applauded the head coach’s selection of young players such as Naaveennash Panicker, Azimuddin Syakir Kamaruddin and Nur Rahull Hrsikesa Thaitchana Muruthi for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Subahan also said that the governing body would not rule out the Speedy Tigers’ participation in the Pro League if the opportunity arose.
“To be fair, I once had a discussion with my deputy president Datuk Ahmad Najmi Abdul Razak and all the other executives in the confederation, and we will definitely take steps to allocate extra funds to send the team to the Pro League if we qualify.
“We never know, maybe by participating in this tournament we can save costs on international tours in the future. We shall see how things go in the years to come,” Subahan added.
The Speedy Tigers are grouped with Canada, France and Pakistan in Pool B in the Nations Cup. Malaysia will take on Pakistan in their first game on May 31. – May 23, 2024