Two gold medals, for sure

THE Malaysian boys and women’s hockey teams are poised to win gold medals in the Sea Cup hockey tournament which will start in Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow.
The opposition for both the boys and women’s teams are Singapore, Thailand A and Thailand B, and nothing but gold medals are expected in both the categories.
In fact, the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) and the Malaysian Women’s Hockey Federation (MWHF) will be using the open tournament to expose their youth.
MHF sent their Under-18 outfit, while 70 per cent in the women’s team are Under-21.
“The girls and boys left for Bangkok yesterday and for us, the target is winning gold. We have sent a relatively young side, but are confident of winning gold,” said MWHA sec retary S. Shamala.
Indonesia were also supposed to send a team but pulled out at the eleventh hour, and hosts Thailand then fielded two teams. The tournament is being held to compensate the fact that Sea Games hosts Laos will not be hosting hockey at the end of the year.
The women’s team, ranked 24th in the world, is coached by Yahya Atan, while K. Dharmaraj is the boys coach.
FIXTURES: Tuesday -- Men: Malaysia v Thailand A; Wom en: Thailand A v Thailand B, Singapore v Malaysia.
Wednesday: Men -- Thailand A v Thailand B, Malaysia v Singapore; Women: Singapore v Thailand B, Thailand A v Malaysia.
Friday: Men -- Thailand B v Malaysia, Singapore v Thai land A; Women: Malaysia v Thailand B.
Sunday: Finals.