KUALA LUMPUR: The national men’s hockey team have vowed to bounce back from their dismal 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games by turning on the style at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Qualifiers next January.
The Speedy Tigers head coach, A. Arul Selvaraj, said although he had to accept the fact that his men failed to make the last four of the quadrennial Games, he never doubted their ability to give it their everything in every match.
He also rebuffed accusations by certain parties that the players were just fooling around in Hangzhou and had no intention of going for gold, saying his men had sacrificed a lot to be where they were, including moving up to number 12 in the world ranking.
“I am confident there is a lesson to be learnt in defeat but we definitely need to work hard and this disappointment won’t linger for long. We will bounce back and show our true colours, after all, we performed superbly in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and several other tournaments.
“... so why didn’t we play well (in Hangzhou)? We have to find that out and, hopefully, bounce back in the Qualifiers. I am confident none of my players came here (to Hangzhou) not wanting to win,” he said.
Arul said this at the post-Hangzhou Asiad press conference with the national men’s team at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Also present were national team management committee chairman Datuk Ahmad Najmi Abdul Razak and national team manager Datuk Mirnawan Nawawi.
Arul said the team will be based in New Zealand in December to play at least six friendlies before heading for the 2024 Olympic Qualifiers.
He also admitted that there is still room for improvement, especially their penalty corner battery, which worked well during their training sessions but not during the Asiad.
“I don’t think we need a major revamp because most (of the goals conceded) were from silly errors. So, we need to study what are the changes we should make. We will also be leaving for New Zealand on either Dec 6 or 7 to work on improving our performance.
“Anyway, we also do not know where we will be playing the Qualifiers, whether it is in Oman or Spain, because we have to wait for the tournaments in Africa and Pan-America to be completed by the end of this month. Only then will we know in which Qualifying group we will be placed in,” he said.
The Speedy Tigers’ dream of winning their maiden gold medal in the Asian Games was dashed when they were held 4-4 by China in their last group match, thus denying them a place in the semi-finals, at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium on Oct 2.
Four days later, the Speedy Tigers could only finish sixth in the Hangzhou Asiad after losing 5-2 to Pakistan in the fifth-sixth classification match.
Meanwhile, Mirnawan hopes the Speedy Tigers will continue to remain in the Road to Gold (RTG) programme as they still have one last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics via the January Qualifiers.
He said the outcome of the Hangzhou Asiad should not be used as a yardstick to gauge the team’s performance, but the powers that be should also look at their achievements in winning the 2022 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup as well as making the finals of the 2022 Asia Cup (against South Korea) and 2023 Asian Champions Trophy (against India).
“Our hockey team made it to the top 10 in the world previously because they were included in the RTG so that they could get the assistance they needed. Now, after the Asian Games, they can still make it to the Paris Olympics. So, I hope hockey will continue to remain in the RTG,” he said.-Bernama