KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Hockey’s had a good romp culminating in the men’s team’s inclusion in the Podium Programme after qualifying for the 2018 World Cup and finishing runner-up at the Asia Cup in Dhaka.

The feat in Dhaka, under coach Stephen van Huizen, was Malaysia’s best ever finish.

Meantime, the women’s team under coach K. Dharmaraj has improved by leaps and bounds.

It created history by qualifying for the first time ever for the World League Round Three then defended its SEA Games gold medal.

The lasses captured the hearts of the hockey world and Malaysia was offered the opportunity to host the Junior World Cup.

Back to men’s hockey.

It’s a gradual build towards bringing Malaysia back to the glory days where it qualified for World Cups and Olympics on a regular basis.

The last time the Malaysians made the Olympics was in Sydney 2000 and if things go according to plan they could be at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

However, things weren’t as rosy at it seemed.

Former international and then Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) vice president Datuk Ow Soon Kooi resigned from all posts in July − including coaching committee chairman − citing health reasons.

As Malay Mail dug into the saga, there was more to the episode.

There was bickering within MHC where one party tried to undermine the other while some staff were overstepping their boundaries.

Then came the contentious contract of German coach Paul Lissek who was hired to help the indoor hockey team.

While initially agreeing on a small salary it was later revealed Lissek’s salary was six-and-a-half times more than what was initially agreed upon.

Soon after the news broke, Lissek returned to Germany. Not only that, former international K. Logan Raj decided not to renew his contract as CEO of MHC to move to Sydney.

Currently the coaching committee chairman is Soon Mustafa, a former Olympian who played with Soon Kooi, while the coaching committee has been revamped.

Then more recently in the year, came the shock revelation of goalkeeper S. Kumar failing a doping test.

The 38-year-old Tampin-born was tested positive for sibutramine − a drug used for slimming − after the group match against Oman in the Asia Cup tournament.

Kumar decided not to have the B sample tested but instead wants an early hearing.

He will be represented by lawyer Jadadish Chandra and the Anti Doping Agency of Malaysia (Adamas) for the hearing.

So, putting that high drama aside, let’s look at the bright side, starting with the women’s team.

Not many felt the Malaysians would be successful at the SEA Games but they won the gold.

They were in the doldrums for years until Dharmaraj came in.

Initially his appointment was met with heavy criticism and resentment. He was unwanted by the players and certain officials as he had a reputation of being a fierce character.

However, fast forward, in the end there was no one better than Dharmaraj to lead the team into the bright lights where they thrilled with their feats.

Struggling to find employment, many of the players are still in university or part of uniformed personnel.

Those are the only jobs they seem to be able to get in these modern times.

It was Dharma and his team Lailin Abu Hassan, Iman Gobinathan, Roslan Jamaluddin and Nor Saliza Ahmad who had faith in them and turned them into world-beaters with regular 4am workouts to toughen them up.

Come 2018, they will have the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to tackle. That’ll be interesting to see how far they can go.

On the men’s side, kudos to the players for putting the “country first” in their campaign for the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cup.

Assistant coach Lim Chiow Chuan’s contract was not renewed by MHC after it expired and he was quickly snapped up by Indonesia.

He is tasked with helping the Indonesians do well at the 2018 Asian Games of which they are hosts.

Former men’s indoor hockey coach Amin Rahim is the new assistant coach and will help van Huizen achieve more milestones next year.

Finally, when officialdom was in a flux in mid-year, MHC president Datuk Sri Subahan Kamal had to wrestle with terms before emerging fairly unscathed. He took a less than dignified turn when Malay Mail was exposing high drama of officialdom within the association, but in the end offered his hand.

Short of an apology, press relations with Subahan have been restored to cordiality.