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KUALA LUMPUR – National men’s hockey coach A. Arul Selvaraj does not see fasting as a factor that could affect their mission to challenge the quick pace of Australia’s game in a series of international test matches in Perth this month.
Arul said although the situation was not really favourable to his team, fasting would not detract his players from playing according to plan in all four matches lined up against world number one Australia.
“We want to gauge our team against the best team in the world. We want to match the top team in the world in terms of speed of thought. We have the quickest feet in the world, so if we can add up these two, we can get a bit faster in our head and I think we can (then) compete against many other teams in the world.
“That’s our purpose of going to Australia, to test ourselves on how much we need to improve on our reaction time and quick thinking ability,” he said in a video clip shared with the media today.
The team of 22 players will play against Australia at the Perth Hockey Stadium starting tomorrow, followed by the second match on Sunday before winding up with the last two matches on April 26 and 28.
Commenting on the tight schedule of consecutive matches, Arul said the team will have to live up to the hectic pace, to condition themselves for two upcoming major tournaments – the Asian Cup in Jakarta this May and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
He said at both tournaments, each team has to chalk up to seven matches in 10 days, thus the need to put the players through a hectic schedule.
Arul also gave an assurance that the players would remain focused on their mission although Covid-19 restrictions are loosening up.
“I think the players by now understand because if one of them is infected, then it will be difficult, (as it) will affect everyone, so we (have) learnt a lesson,” he said. – Bernama, April 23, 2022