Lissek returns to minefield of problems

09/01/2002

NATIONAL chief coach Paul Lissek returned from Germany after a short
holiday and came face-to-face with a string of problems on his first day
of training for the Six-Nation on Jan 18-26.
First, the pitch at the main hockey stadium in Bukit Jalil was dry as a
bone because the person entrusted to water the pitch was not around during
the morning traning session.
The national trainees had to do some light workout instead and in the
evening, Lissek had to deal with players who are still not ready and
absentees.
"Amin Rahim and Redzuan Ponirin are stil attending classes while S.
Shanker, Mirnawan Nawawi and Maninderjit Singh have yet to get leave from
their employers," said Lissek.
And according to Lissek, The Boss is definitely not ready for the World
Cup, yet.
"He could not follow the regular training and has been sent to the gym
for a light workout. I have yet to find out how much he has recovered from
the calf injury that he suffered befor the Champions Challenge, but he is
definitely not ready for the World Cup yet" said Lissek.
The German said up till Monday, only 15 players are ready for the World
Cup with S. Kuhan being the player who has transformed amazingly after a
poor outing in the Azlan Shah Cup in August where Malaysia finished at the
bottom of the table.
"Kuhan has improved tremendously and that is good news because we missed
far too many penalty corners during the Champions Challenge. Now that he
is looking fit and more comfortable with the ball, I hope the penalty
corner conversion rate in the Six-Nation will be much better," said
Lissek.
The first two hurdles for Malaysia will be the Test matches against
Pakistan on Jan 15 and 16 where Sohail Abbas, among the best penalty
corner specialist in the world today, will test our defenders with his
powerful drag flicks.
On Shahbaz Ahmad, 35, who returned to hockey after three yers in the
wilderness, Lissek was not impressed with what he saw of the once feared
striker during the Champions Trophy where Pakistan finished fourth.
"Shahbaz looked a little unfit during the Champions Trophy but that may
be because he received a last minute call-up.
"But he has had time to build on his fitness since and in the Six-Nation
he might prove deadly. We will have to wait and see," said Lissek.
(END)