Credits: Photo taken from Malaysian Hockey Confederation Facebook

It has been tough on the boys – no one wants to lose a match, much less get soundly beaten – but it’s clear they’ve taken it on the chin and have kept fighting till the end of every match.

We must improve technically and physically, that’s for sure – but in terms of commitment and attitude, the team has been at its best – and I’m proud of how they have conducted themselves.  

This is mainly because most of the players in this team are competing in an overseas tournament for the first time. There are three players from last years’ SEA Games squad, but they are young men too, keeping with our aim of assembling and nurturing a squad of player who will be at their peak – between 26 and 28 – when the 2029 SEA Games comes to Singapore.

Credits: Photo taken from Malaysian Hockey Confederation Facebook

The thinking behind this exercise – identifying a team and throwing them in the deep end for them to quickly understand the demands on them at this level – is to get this group of players up to speed in a way that would not be possible playing in domestic tournaments.

This is important to do because with players retiring from our Men’s team, there will be a period of transition that we need to navigate quickly to keep our 2029 targets within achievable range.

The results show that this may have been too much too soon – too big of an ask of these young boys.

But there are already visible improvements that augurs well for the future. Perhaps not in results, but most definitely in approach and mentality.

The boys are embracing being outside their comfort zone and have taken on the various challenges with gusto – this despite the fact that for the first time, Malaysia’s National Players are allowed to participate in the Razak Cup, taking the challenge up by a couple of notches.

I’m optimistic that this exercise will bear more fruit than what we have started to see.

These boys now know how far we are away from where we want to be, and have started to take lessons on board. They are starting to properly understand the amount of work and commitment required, and that is an important lesson on the road to the 2029 Singapore SEA Games.

We hope to have the Singapore hockey fraternity on board in a collective drive towards our targets by the time the Games come around, but I’m hopeful that this lesson for the boys at the front of that effort will put us in good stead.

K.Vijayan

Head Coach

13th – 14th Placing

Singapore – 2:3 – PDRM