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COMMENTARY                                                                                  

Level Field

Hockey to rise from the ashes?

HOCKEY has been among the elite sports in Malaysia and is recognised as world class.

However, after the dismal wooden-spoonist performance in the recently concluded 13th World Cup in the Hague, the sport will come under the microscope and doubts will arise as to whether Malaysia is still considered world class or drop further down in ranking.

To start with, a target to finish a lowly 10th out of twelve teams is no target at all.

There was a lot buzz after the Malaysian junior team finished fourth in the Junior World Cup in New Delhi under coach K. Dharmaraj Abdullah, although his appointment had created some controversy.

However, the commendable performance of the Junior World Cup team, including having finished fourth in 1979, 1982, 1985 and 2013, has never continued at senior level.

The current senior team went to the Haque with a lot of false hopes and expectations were running high despite the low target set.

It was forgotten that Malaysia was back in the World Cup after missing two tournaments and last played 12 years ago.

In fact, all was not well in the run-up to the World Cup with national coach Paul Revington resigning due to stress-related illness – the second time he tendered his resignation. He had come back the first time to help Malaysia qualify for the World Cup finals.

But when Dharmaraj was appointed as his replacement, together with K. Gobinathan and Nor Azlan Bakar, there was a whole lot of controversy.

The final selection of players for the Hague was also hotly debated while in the backroom, the intrigue and heavy politicking the sport is known for continued.

In short, things were simply not right with the team, but everyone chose to ignore them for reasons best known to themselves.

Then, seeing Revington in the Hague as a consultant raised further questions. What was he doing there when he had already made it clear that he could not handle the team?

So, was Dharmaraj there to be made the scapegoat for the team's failure? Why did he accept Revington's presence? Was it because he was not confident of handling the job and needed guidance?

With due respect to Dharmaraj, he got carried away with the junior team's performance. The World Cup stint was definitely too soon for him.

The World Cup is the mecca for hockey gurus with the best brains behind the teams. Was Dharmaraj on a par with those coaches in the Hague? Was he intimidated?

Now, whether Malaysian hockey can bounce back in the next four years is left to be seen.

After having finished 11th in 1973, Malaysia clinched their best-ever placing in the World Cup – fourth – in 1975. The World Cup was then held biennially.

But home advantage - Malaysia hosted the 1975 World Cup – had a lot to do with it.

With the present set of players, all indications are that we have to work overtime to raise our standard to qualify for the next World Cup.

In the meantime, all the politics in the sport is not going to help.

Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah can bring in the money to manage the association and for its programmes, but if things are not handled professionally, it is all going to be wasted.

Now, with Tengku Abdullah having to divide his attention between the MHC and the FA of Malaysia, as its newly elected president, there is likely to be more trouble as more “little napoleons” will try to wield their power, which is only going to be detrimental to hockey.

Without doubt, there needs to be urgent surgery of the MHC and its affiliates to bring in new blood who have the game at heart and are professionals.

Players too need to buck up while officials and coaches need to step up their efforts to become world-class personnel.

Yes, we do have a few officials and coaches of calibre, but more often than not, they are drowned out by politics.

For far too long, hockey has been entangled in internal bickering and interference from outside parties and the sooner this is stopped, the better for the sport.

Hockey is among the sports in Malaysia that have hangers-on with their own agendas. These officials need to be identified and got rid of.

Several ex-internationals have commented on Malaysia’s performance in the Hague and hockey in general. They have valid points, but surely it would do better if they were actively involved instead of just doling out the criticism?

While some play an administrative role, there are many others who could coach, not necessarily at the highest level, but at least in schools or their neighbourhoods.

It is pointless to list what ails Malaysian hockey if one is not prepared to lift a finger to help.

In short, put your money where your mouth is.

It makes no sense to keep on talking about our fourth placing in 1975 because many things have changed since then.

For starters, the rules have changed, the game is played on artificial turf, the pace is different, sports science plays an integral part and with the game becoming more suitable to the Europeans, the Asians are finding it hard to cope.

However, the basics of sports – discipline, dedication and determination – remain the same and until and when these values are hammered into our players and officials, Malaysian sports will go nowhere.

TONY MARIADASS is a sports
journalist with more than three

decades of experience and is

passionate about local sports. He
can be reached at tmariadass@
gmail.com. Twitter handle: @
tmariadass

Malaysia’s performance in the World Cup

Team	1971	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	Total
Malaysia	–	11th	4th	10th	10th	–	–	–	11th	8th	–	–	12th		7
Past World Cup Participation 1971- Barcelona – Did Not Qualify 1973 – Amstelveen – 11th Place 1975 – Kuala Lumpur – 4th place 1978 – Buenos Aries – 10th place 1982 – Bombay – 10th place 1986 – London – Did Not Qualify 1990 – Lahore – Did Not Qualify 1994 – Sydney – Did Not Qualify 1998 – Utrecht – 11th place 2002 – Kuala Lumpur – 8th place 2006 – Monchengladbach – Did Not Qualify 2010 - New Delhi - Did Not Qualify

Hockey to rise from the ashes?

 
Friday, June 20, 2014 - Malay Mail

HOCKEY has been among the elite sports in Malaysia and is recognised as world class.
However, after the dismal performance in the recent 13th World Cup in The Hague, Holland, where they finished last, the sport will come under the microscope.
There was a lot buzz after Malaysia finished fourth in the Junior World Cup in New Delhi under coach K. Dharmaraj.
However, the commendable performance of the Junior World Cup team, including having finished fourth in 1979, 1982, 1985 and 2013, has not continued at senior level.
The senior team went to The Haque with false hopes and expectations were running high.
It was forgotten Malaysia were back in the World Cup after missing the last two tournaments.
All was not well in the run-up to the World Cup when national coach Paul Revington resigned due to stress-related illness — the second time he tendered his resignation. He had come back the first time to help Malaysia qualify for the World Cup finals.
When Dharmaraj was appointed as his replacement, together with K. Gobinathan and Nor Azlan Bakar, there was a whole lot of controversy.
The selection of players was also hotly debated while in the backroom, the intrigue and heavy politicking the sport is known for continued.
In short, things were simply not right, but everyone chose to ignore them.
Then, seeing Revington as a consultant raised further questions. What was he doing there when he had already made it clear that he could not handle the team?
So, was Dharmaraj there to be made the scapegoat for the team’s failure? Why did he accept Revington’s presence? Was it because he was not confident of handling the job and needed guidance?
With due respect to Dharmaraj, he got carried away with the junior team’s performance. The World Cup stint was definitely too soon for him.
The World Cup is the mecca for hockey gurus with the best brains behind the teams. Was Dharmaraj on a par with those coaches in the Hague? Was he intimidated?
Now, whether Malaysian hockey can bounce back in the next four years is left to be seen.
After having finished 11th in 1973, Malaysia clinched their best-ever placing in the World Cup — fourth — in 1975. The World Cup was then held biennially.
But home advantage — Malaysia hosted the 1975 World Cup – had a lot to do with it.
With the present set of players, all indications are that we have to work overtime to raise our standard to qualify for the next World Cup.
Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah can bring in the money to manage the association and for its programmes, but if things are not handled professionally, it is all going to be wasted.
With Tengku Abdullah having to divide his attention between the MHC and the FA of Malaysia, as its newly elected president, “little napoleons” will try to wield their power, which is only going to be detrimental to hockey.
Without doubt MHC and its affiliates need new blood who have the game at heart.
For far too long, hockey has been entangled in internal bickering and interference from outside parties.
Several ex-internationals have commented on Malaysia’s performance.
They have valid points, but surely it would do better if they were actively involved instead of just doling out criticism? In short, put your money where your mouth is.
It makes no sense to keep on talking about our fourth placing in 1975 because many things have changed since then.

TONY MARIADASS is a sports
journalist with more than three
decades of experience and is
passionate about local sports. He
can be reached at
tmariadass@gmail.com. Twitter handle:
@tmariadass