KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Hockey Confederation (MHC) is prepared to accept any decision made by the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) regarding the inclusion of the national men’s and women’s five-a-side hockey (hockey 5s) teams in next year’s Bangkok SEA Games.
This response follows OCM secretary-general Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib’s recent statement to Scoop, confirming that all hockey events, including hockey 5s, will be part of next year’s SEA Games as per the Bangkok SEA Games Federation’s confirmation.
Speaking to Scoop, MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal mentioned that while the governing body has not yet received official notification from OCM about the inclusion, they would be grateful if the news turned out to be true.
“We have not been informed yet by the OCM and only found out after reading the news on a portal (Scoop).
“If it’s included, we are forever grateful and happy, as we firmly believe that hockey 5s will provide another two gold medal prospects for us to deliver for the country at the SEA Games. Even if it’s not included, we are ready to accept the decision.
“The more we play, the more practice we can have, and it will be good preparation for our teams for future tournaments, including the 2028 Hockey5s World Cup.
“I also strongly believe that there should be more competitions for hockey 5s. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is also seriously looking at developing hockey 5s, and it will be great if we could have more hockey 5 competitions in our region,” said Subahan when contacted.
MHC previously secured a special allocation of RM2 million from the Finance Ministry to develop its hockey 5s teams over the next five years.
It was reported that Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has requested an allocation of RM3.9 million from the Finance Ministry to develop the hockey 5s team over five years after their remarkable performance in the inaugural FIH Men’s Hockey 5s World Cup, held in Oman in February.
The national men’s and women’s hockey 5s teams have so far received invitations to play in invitational tournaments in Russia (August 15 to 20) and Thailand (November 25 to 30).
Under the guidance of coach Wallace Tan, the Malaysian men’s team finished as silver medalists, succumbing to a 2-5 defeat against the Netherlands in the final, while the women’s team secured a commendable sixth-place finish.
The national men’s hockey 5s team is currently ranked number two in the world with 1,400.00 points, while the women’s team ranks number six with 1,250 points. – July 2, 2024