Hockey: For How Long More Will M'sia Fail To Qualify For The Olympics?

By Vikneswaran Raman KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Hopes of seeing our men's hockey team make it to the Tokyo Olympics next year were dashed once again, when they were defeated by Great Britain in the final qualifiers over the weekend in Lee Valley, London. Their 9-3 loss on aggregate, follows an investment of RM1.7 million this year, and marks the fifth consecutive time the team failed to reach the mark for the Olympics. The last time Malaysia reached the Olympics was in Sydney, Australia in 2000. In this connection, hockey stalwarts and enthusiasts including former national captain (1998-2002), Mirnawan Nawawi, are questioning - for how long more is Malaysia going to fail? The three-time Olympian told Bernama, the whole system and all stakeholders, including the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), its affiliates and sports schools should take responsibility, without pointing a finger at any one party. Mirnawan called on all parties including the MHC, National Sports Council, and the Youth and Sports Ministry to come up with a mechanism that can take the team to the next level. He also urged authorities at sports schools to ensure they channelled better quality players to the national squad, while the Education Ministry should re-examine its past decisions in allowing sports school athletes to compete in the state-level competition organised by Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Negeri (MSSN) (Malaysia School Sports Council), as such moves were not beneficial in that the sports school athletes have won events easily, while talented athletes from regular schools have had their spirits dampened. Asked about some senior players who are reportedly intending to retire following the recent failure, Mirnawan, who donned the national jersey from 1989 to 2002, said that was a decision to be made by players individually, but added that instead of age, the major determinants in this regard should be a player's ability to compete and his fighting spirit. For the record, the national squad would have made it to the Tokyo Olympics, had they taken the gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, but they lost in a penalty shoot-out to Japan. Thereafter, MHC hired experienced Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans who was responsible for the Dutch women's team which clinched the World Cup in 1990, and the men's team who were 1996 Olympics and 1998 World Cup champions. Other experts were also hired to build up the Malaysian team. Meanwhile, the MHC leadership comprising president Subahan Kamal and deputy president Dr S. Shamala, who had previously said they would resign from their posts should Malaysia fail to qualify for the 2020 Olympics, have apparently made a U-turn. This begs the question - should Subahan and Shamala continue to lead the MHC? This will be decided upon during the upcoming elections at the annual general meeting on Nov 16. -- BERNAMA