Women prepare for Asian Games

THE national women’s hockey team have set a semi-finals target for the Asian Games in China, and a New Zealand Tour is on the cards to strengthen the side.
“Even though semi-finals is a steep target going by the rankings of India, South Korea, Japan and China, I believe the team is in good shape and will impress in the Asian Games,” said Malaysian Women’s Hockey Federation (MWHF) secretary S. Shamala.
And the Kiwi Tour is also a milestone: “This is the first time that a women’s team will go on a Tour of New Zealand to prepare for the World Cup Qualifiers and also the Asian Games. Previously, we had to be contended with training at home.” The women will play seven matches in New Zealand from March 6-16, with three matches against the senior national side, two against NZ juniors, and two against a club side.
And as a warm-up to the Tour, the women played five matches recently against a visiting Pyeongtaek CT Korean Club Team where they won all the matches.
The national side won three matches 1-0, 4-1, 1-0 and then 3-2 and 2-1 even though the Korean club side had flew down six national players for the last two matches.
“After we won three games, the club brought down their six national players for the remaining matches but we still won.
“The Club was the 2009 champion of the Korean National Tournament, and it was a great achievement for our play ers,” said Shamala.