KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has vowed that the national hockey squad will be able to win four gold medals when Malaysia hosts the 2027 SEA Games as a result of the implementation of an intensive exposure programme.
It is currently being actively carried out, covering the men’s and women’s squads at various age levels, including the under-18 (U-18) age group.
MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said the target of four gold medals includes men’s and women’s field hockey, men’s indoor hockey and men’s five-a-side (5s) hockey, while two silver medals are also targeted through the women’s 5s hockey and women’s indoor hockey events.
“We promise to ensure that Malaysia will be able to get four gold medals and two silver medals at the SEA Games here in two years.”
“There is no reason why we cannot achieve that target based on the progress we are seeing now,” he said at the MHC National Hockey Development Programme (NHDP) press conference on the U-18 men’s and women’s teams at the National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil here, today.
He added that the two-year plan involves overseas exposure programmes including a mission for the U-18 men’s and women’s youth squads to Perth this week before continuing with a series of matches and additional training in South Africa, Amsterdam and New Zealand.
“We want the players’ development to continue. They will not be left to stagnate after a major tournament.
“We are keeping these players for a period of two years because we want them to mature by the time Malaysia becomes the host,” he said.
He also announced that the National Sports Council (NSC) would channel financial assistance to support the NHDP for the next two years, thus ensuring that the preparations for the national youth and senior squads run smoothly.
According to him, the development of the women’s team would also be given special focus so that they could compete more strongly with Thailand, which is currently considered the main challenger at the regional level.
Commenting on the performance of the national men’s 5s hockey squad which won the first gold medal for the Malaysian contingent at the Thailand SEA Games yesterday, he said the success was an important starting point to ensure that 5s hockey continues to receive the attention and support it deserves.
The national men’s 5s hockey squad defeated Indonesia 7-3 in the final to record new history for Malaysia when the 5s hockey event was contested for the first time at the biennial games.
Meanwhile, the national women’s squad’s desire to follow in the footsteps of the men’s squad was not achieved when they lost to Thailand 1-7 in the final match and took the silver medal. — Bernama
