KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — He is a top class defender and one of the finest penalty corner drag-flickers in the world, if not the best.

He is a superstar, top scoring with 11 goals as Argentina stunned the world by claiming Olympic gold in Rio in 2016 in men’s hockey, its first ever.

This is the story of Gonzalo Peillat who will play for Terengganu in the new season of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

The battle begins today with the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup.

Champions Terengganu have received a bye for this knockout competition, though.

Peillat’s presence will surely add spice to MHL, which has lost some of its glamour and interest — unlike in the late 1980s or 1990s where it was more competitive.

Terengganu fans must be delighted that their team managed to secure Peillat’s services for the new season — and surely to become a talking point this season.

He can be relied on not only for his goals via penalty corners but is handy in defence as well.

What is his perpective of penalty corner execution?

“I think every player has a different technique and there are so many good drag flickers around the world,” he told reporters in an interview.

“If we talk about what is the main difference from each other we should talk about the percentage.

“I think a good percentage is more than 33 per cent. it means scoring one out of three or more…”

Who is Peillat?

He is 25 and played his first match for Argentina or Los Leones at the Champions Challenge in 2011.

Who were his idols or inspirations along the way?

“When I was a child I always tried to copy Marco Riccardi. Nowadays, I like Matias Rey a lot, he is one of our best players worldwide,” he said.

Peillat will never forget his first Olympic Games in London in 2012. It was special for him as he was only 18 then.

“But the best moment in my life was when we got the Olympic gold and listened to the anthem in Rio de Janeiro with all our people watching that moment. It was unique,” he said.

Terengganu coach Sarjit Singh is naturally delighted to have Peillat’s services. But the former international knows it is not going to be easy for Terengganu to win honours.

Peillat is one of Terengganu’s six imports.

It has also hired three more Argentines — star forward Joaquin Menini. Guido Barreiros and Pablo Trevisan.

The others signed are defenders Moritz Ershad of Germany and Pakistan’s Ammad Shakeel Butt.

It will also have the services of three Malaysia internationals in goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman and the Saari brothers in Fitri and Faizal.

There are four titles at stake in the MHL — Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup, Charity Shield, Premier League and TNB Cup (overall title).

Terengganu won TNB Cup last season when it edged Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) 5-4 on penalties after they were tied at 1-1 in relegation time.

Six teams — Terengganu, KLHC, Univesiti Kuala Lumpur (UNIKL), Tenaga Nasional (TNB), Maybank and TNB Thunderbolts — will do battle this season.