MALAYSIAN Hockey Federation (MHF) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah chaired his first council meeting yesterday and did not waste any time in making a dramatic change in the coaching department withthe contracts of three senior team coaches not being renewed.Chief coach Sarjit Singh (pic), assistant coach Gurmit Singh and goalkeeping coach Shahid Ali Khan will not have their respective contracts renewed. The council has decided to hire South Korean Kim Sang Ryul as head coach.
All three local coaches’ contracts expire on Dec 31.
Sang Ryul, who is credited with uplifting the standard of hockey in South Korea and China, is expected to arrive soon. The council has also given him a free hand to select his team of assistant coaches and physical trainers.
Sarjit, when contacted, said he will make a statement today.
And there were also new faces appointed to the various committees with some former MHF hands re-appointed.
Chairing the Consultative Committee is previous president Tan Sri Admiral (rtd) Anwar Mohd Nor, while past MHF deputy president Tan Sri P. Alagendra, National Sports Council director general Datul Zolkples Embong and National Sports Institute director general Datuk Ramlan Aziz are among its members.
And in the Wawasan Committee, the chairman is Datuk Mazlan Ahmad, while among the members are Datuk Ho Koh Chye, and former players Mirnawan Nawawi and Maninderjit Singh.
The Coaching Committee is now chaired by Datuk Poon Fook Loke, while the Development Committee is chaired by Ken Pereira.
The Umpires Board also saw a change with international umpire Amarjit Singh tasked to helm it, while Datuk Dr S.S. Cheema will chair the Medical Committee.
Tengku Abdullah, as promised after taking over the MHF, has made some drastic changes in coaching as well as the various committees which have been entrusted with taking Malaysia into the top-10 bracket in the world by the 2010 London Olympics.
