No sparks as affiliates maintain silence

HEADS were expected to roll during the Malaysian Hockey Federation's
(MHF) eagerly anticipated council meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday but
it turned out be a dull affair instead.
  MHF president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was expected to take
drastic action after Malaysia's debacle in the Champions Challenge II in
Dublin but head coach Tai Beng Hai and his assistants survived the chop.
  The issue of coaching committee chairman Dr Balbir Singh, who was
alleged to have made appointments before seeking the approval of its
members, was also not discussed.
  Tengku Abdullah was said to be immensely disappointed with Malaysia's
performance in Dublin, leading to speculation that he was contemplating
resigning.
  Tengku Abdullah did not speak to the media after the council meeting
but MHF deputy president Noor Azmi Ahmad attributed this to another
meeting the president had to attend in Putrajaya.
  Noor Azmi said speculation about Tengku Abdullah's future with MHF was
not raised and neither did he hint about wanting to leave the
association.
  "The failure in the Champions Challenge in Dublin was discussed. Tengku
Abdullah was disappointed that Malaysia couldn't achieve the target of
becoming champions and could only finish fourth," said Noor Azmi.
  "However, Tengku Abdullah has not taken any drastic action and still
has faith in Beng Hai, who must take serious measures to help the
Malaysian senior squad show improvement again.
  "All coaches will retain their positions while the sub-committees will
remain status quo.
  "Beng Hai's next mission is to guide Malaysia in the World Cup
qualifiers in New Delhi later this year where they must finish champions.
  "Beng Hai came into the fray in January and he should be given time and
it will not be a good move to hire a new coach with the World Cup
qualifiers just four months away."
  Noor Azmi also stated that Tengku Abdullah had urged the sub committees
to avoid internal bickering and work more professionally to bring
positive changes to MHF and Malaysian hockey.

Flying start for Project 2013

THE Project 2013 began their campaign in the National Under-23
championship with a win as they defeated Perak 2-1 in a Group A match at
the Malacca City Council (MBMB) Stadium in Bukit Serindit yesterday.
  In another Group A match, Armed Forces also scored a comfortable 3-0
victory over Terengganu.
  Johor battled back from 3-1 down to earn a 3-3 draw against Penang in
Group B.
  RESULTS - Group A: Project 2013 2 Perak 1; Armed Forces 3 Terengganu 0.
  Group B: Johor 3 Penang 3; Pahang 2 v Malacca 2.
  Today : Selangor v Penang (3pm), Perak v KL (5pm), Pahang v Negri
(5pm), Johor v Malacca (8pm), Project 2013 v Terengganu (8pm).
  (All matches at Malacca City Council Stadium)

Challenge for Tengku Abdullah

By Ajitpal Singh

MALAYSIAN Hockey Federation (MHF) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad
Shah will have his hands full when he chairs the council meeting on
Saturday, with the national team's Champions Challenge II debacle likely
to be the main item on the agenda.
Tengku Abdullah, however, must first address the issue of the MHF's
almost non-functioning committees, which have been sleeping on their
respective jobs over the past months.
According to the MHF constitution, the respective committees are
supposed to meet once every three months but some have not been doing so.
Instead, these committees are only meeting now, just days before having
to present their reports to the council.
A recent coaching committee meeting made headlines after its chairman
Dr Balbir Singh was alleged to have made appointments before seeking the
approval of its members.
These appointees were removed immediately from the committee in the
recent meeting.
Another issue that the members were unhappy about was the appointment
of coaches for various age-groups and national teams.
The members claimed they were not consulted before Balbir appointed
these coaches.
These issues were brought up in the first coaching committee meeting on
Jan 10, which they allege Balbir failed to address immediately
It is learnt that Balbir had wanted to resign but has yet to do so.
MHF secretary Hashim Mohd Yusoff confirmed that Balbir is not resigning
from his post.
"We have not received anything official or unofficial, from him
(Balbir). As far as the federation is concerned, Balbir is still the
chairman," said Hashim yesterday.
"All concerned committees will also present their respective minutes of
meetings to the council on Saturday."
On the below-par performance performance in the recent Champions
Challenge II, Hashim said the matter will be discussed extensively in the
meeting.
"I can't say much over the possible outcome but the subject will be
addressed with great concern," said Hashim.
The national team, who were given the target of winning the Champions
Challenge II, instead finished fourth, despite being the second highest
ranked team in the tournament.