POOL OF PLAYERS, MAKE UP FOR LOSS OF EXPERIENCE

PLAYING TIME BY PLAYERS COMPENSATES LOSS OF EXPERIENCE

National hockey coach A. Arul Selvaraj is counting on playing time acquired by players in the squad to make up for the loss of experience of players who failed to make the squad owing to injuries.

This morning in Ipoh, Arul named his squad of 18 players for the 29^th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022 tournament starting on Tuesday where he had dropped three players from the squad of 21 he had.

The four dropped after careful evaluation of the players current status based on performance are goalkeeper Adrian Albert, defender Syarman Mat, Muhajir Abdu and striker Mohamad Rosli.

Arul in his 18 squad has two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and six strikers.

Two players who had just returned from injury -defender Faiz Helmi (ankle) and forward Syafiq Sumantri (adductor) survived the cut as Arul saw them fit to be in the team.

“Although they were injured they continued to train with the team in other aspects like gym work, rehabilitation programme and fitness and strenghth,” said Arul.

Earlier key players captain Marhan Jalil and Shahril Saaban were also ruled out because injuries.

“All the injured players are in Ipoh undergoing treatment and recovery training, as they are part of the squad with the hope that they will be available for upcoming tournaments - Nations Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa, from Nov 28-Dec 4, the World Cup in January and Asian Games in Hangzhou in September,” added Arul.

Arul also named the team captain as Muhammad Najmi Farizal Jazlan.

Najmi however had to returned to his home in Perlis early this morning after getting news that his father-in-law had passed away.

But he will be back tonight (last night) or tomorrow (today). The team has an off day tomorrow (Sunday).

“When we got news that Najmi’s father-in-law passed away, we told him to return to Perlis to make the necessary arrangements and be with his wife. It is best he went because otherwise he will not have peace of mind and his family too might be happy with him,” said team manager Datuk Mirawan Nawawi.

“Now when he returns and find out that he has been named captain, I am sure will be highly motivated,” he added.

Arul added that Najmi was the right choice in the absence of Marhan, as he is a good leader, a motivator and understands the game well.

There was strong speculation that the most capped and senior player, defender Razie Rahim, would be named captain.

“Razie is indeed a strong leader and whether he is captain or not, he plays a key role in leading the team and will partner with Najmi to do well together from the back,” added Arul.

“Besides, we have eight players in the team who have strong leadership qualities and each one of them will be playing their role as leaders as we play as a unit.”

 

THE SQUAD OF 18

NO	NAMA	POSISI	NO JERSI
1	MUHAMMAD HAFIZUDDIN OTHMAN	PENJAGA GOL	21
2	MOHD ZAIMI MAT DERIS	PENJAGA GOL	16
3	MUHAMMAD RAZIE ABD RAHIM	PERTAHANAN	17
4	MUHAMMAD NAJMI FARIZAL JAZLAN	PERTAHANAN	25
5	MUHAMMAD SYAFIQ HASSAN	PERTAHANAN	27
6	ZULPIDAUS MIZUN	PERTAHANAN	28
7	MUHAMMAD AMINUDDIN MOHD ZAIN	PERTAHANAN	12
8	MUHAMMAD FIRHAN ASHAARI	TENGAH	13
9	FAIZ HELMI JALI	TENGAH	18
10	MEOR MUHAMMAD AZUAN HASSAN	TENGAH	20
11	NIK MUHAMMAD AIMAN NIK ROZEMI	TENGAH	24
12	MUHAMMAD AMIRUL HAMIZAN AZAHAR	TENGAH	29
13	MUHAMMAD NAJIB ABU HASSAN	PENYERANG	2
14	NORSYAFIQ SUMANTRI	PENYERANG	3
15	MOHAMAD ASHRAN HAMSANI	PENYERANG	8
16	TENGKU NASRUL IKMAL TENGKU ABD RAHIM	PENYERANG	14
17	SHELLO SILVERIUS	PENYERANG	15
18	MUHAMMAD AZRAI AIZAD ABU KAMAL	PENYERANG	23

MALAYSIA’S FIXTURES

NO	HARI	TARIKH	PERLAWANAN	MASA
1.	SELASA	1 NOV 2022	MALAYSIA LWN KOREA	8:00 MALAM
2.	RABU	2 NOV 2022	PAKISTAN LWN MALAYSIA	8:00 MALAM
3.	JUMAAT	4 NOV 2022	AFRIKA SELATAN LWN MALAYSIA	8:00 MALAM
4.	SABTU	5 NOV 2022	MALAYSIA LWN EGYPT	8:00 MALAM
5.	ISNIN	7 NOV 2022	MALAYSIA LWN JEPUN	8:00 MALAM

 

ARUL’S WAY TO SUCCESS

ARUL: MY WAY, IS THE WAY

Love him hate him, but A. Arul Selvaraj is totally focused on his job as the national men's hockey team head coach and goes about his job with full confidence and believe in himself and his team.

The 48-years-old father of three daughters who has set up his home in Ireland 15 years ago, who took charge of the national team head coach from Roelant Oltmans, of Holland, in August two years ago, has had his fair share of critics for his way of managing and selecting the players, his choice of friendly matches overseas and basically doubting his capabilities.

But Arul has the full support of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) and ably supported by the National Sports Council and National Sports Institute, and strongly aided by his former national teammate and now team manager of the national team, Datuk Mirnawan Nawawi.

Arul arrived in Ipoh with the team for the 29^th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on Thursday afternoon and immediately declared that this tournament is a process to get the team ready for the World Cup in January in India and the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2024 OIympics, by winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.

If Malaysia fail to emerge champion at the Asian Games, they have another chance in January in January 2024 in the Olympic qualifier where 16 teams will be involved and the top three in each Group qualify.

Does that mean, Arul is not interested to win the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup?

“No, our team philosophy is to win every match we play. Yes, based on ranking of the teams for this year’s tournament, who are ranked lower than previous years, we should win the title. But that does not mean, that we are going to have an easy path,” said Arul who had his first training session on Friday night and another this morning in Ipoh.

“There is no easy match. We have to work hard, play to our best ability and treat every opponent with respect and caution. Yes we should be in the final, but if that does not happen, I am not going to push the panic button.”

The teams competing in Ipoh are Korea, South Africa, Japan, Pakistan, Egypt and Malaysia.

The team has just returned from an European tour where they played  Belgium and France and have come  fresh from a 3-day motivation camp in Lenggong in Perak conducted by camp commandment Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun, the former CPO of Sabah and Ex-ESSCOM Commander and his team of commandos.

“I have had my fair share of critics with my job, but I plod on to do my job the way I believe it should be done. And my work maybe new to some or even alien, but this is modern hockey and we have to prepared for the challenges it offers.”

Arul is known for comparing driving a car at 80 km per hour and driving a fast car around then racing track.

“When we drive slowly, we always have time to react. But when one  in is driving around the race track at high speed, decisions have to be made in split second or disaster will occur.

“It is the same with modern day hockey. One has to have speed, power and strength. Right decisions have to be made immediately under pressure and this can only be done when one is fit, fast thinking and understands situations.”

To this, Arul has been educating his players to play as a team, be independent to stand up to challenges, understand the game, make the right decisions at the right time, adapting well to play under high intensity and lasting the tournament to play their best for the whole duration of the tournament, especially the crucial seventh match.

“Normally, we fizzle out in the last match of tournament having problems to give the same performance as earlier matches. But we are working hard to overcome that flaw in the team.”

It may come as a surprise to many, but players in a game make their own substitution!

“Yes I have a squad and not first XI players. Every player is a utility to the team. I name the first XI for a match and have players available for substitution for every slot. I do not interfere in the substitutions and the players make their own, unless there is an injury or suspension because of card, when I may make a tactical change.

“The players also do their own  video analysis after matches, get their daily training program before their training and need to go through it so that they know exactly what to do in each training.”

Arul said it is not about talented or skilful players but it about players current performance, they willingness to train the ‘new way’ and above all being independent and understand their role but at the same time play as a team.

“I speak and engage with the players’ parents and wives, as they are part of making the team tick, as they have to know what their sons or husbands are doing to achieve their ultimate goal and they have to play a key supporting role.

“It is  family I am working with and not just individuals,” emphasised  Arul.

Arul also said that other vital aspects included is the incorporation of sports science as he has specialists handling each area.

Besides his assistants coaches, Amin Rahim, Brendon Carolan, S. Kumar, Azrul Effendy, and team doctor, Devan Raguraja, there is physiotherapist, Mohd Fauzan, physical trainer from England, Thomas Drowley and psychologist Aruna Santhappan.

“All of them do a great deal of work to get the team in shape in every related aspect, that makes the team tick.

After the  Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the Malaysian team will head for the men's Nations Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa, from Nov 28-Dec 4 before the World Cup in January.

Ends.

EARLY BIRDS JAPAN EYE TITLE

JAPAN was the first team to arrive for 29th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men’s International Hockey tournament 2022 which begin on November 1 to Nov 10, at the Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Ipoh, and immediately sounded their intention to win the title.

The team arrived in the wee hours of Monday morning in Ipoh by bus from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and had their first training session yesterday evening.

“We came early due to very cold weather back home and wanted to acclimatise with hot and humid weather in Malaysia,” said team coach Akira Takahashi.

“It is our target is to win the tournament and we want to be well prepared and ready for the tournament here.

“We will go to South Africa for the Nations Cup after this, followed by Spain for another international tournament before we participate in India's World Cup and Asian Cup in China.”

Perak HA secretary, Amarjit Singh Jessy said Japan have yet to submit their final squad for the tournament yet.

Japan were supposed to play a friendly match against Malaysia on Friday but have cancelled it and looking to play Pakistan which is not confirmed.

Japan open their campaign on Nov 1 in the opening match of the tournament against Egypt at 4pm.

Team manager Katsuya Takase (left) and coach Akira Takahashi

The tournament which is making its comeback after the pandemic will be held in a round robin format.

The participating teams are hosts Malaysia, Korea, South Africa, Japan, Egypt and traditional powerhouse, Pakistan.

On the opening day after Japan’s match, Pakistan will take on South Africa in the next match before Malaysia play Korea for their opening match.

Since the tournament’s inception in 1983, for the very first time this year it will also offer world ranking points for participating counties.

Australia is the most successful team in the tournament with 10 titles but they will not be participating this year, while India have won it five times (who will also not be competing), since its inception as a biennial competition in 1983. Pakistan and South Korea have claimed the title three times each.

Japan has never won the tournament since they made their debut in 1987 when they finished 6th. In their three other appearance, they finished 7th in 2016,  6th in 2017 and 5th in 2019.

Admission is free for the tournament.