Test of faith..

NATIONAL chief coach Tai Beng Hai will test his players endurance during the fasting month, as the London Olympics will also be held during the fasting period.
A Five-Test series against Japan will start from today at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, where the coach and officials from the National Sports Institute (NSI) will get a chance to gauge the energy level of London 2012 hopefuls.
“Our matches against Japan have always been close, with the last encounter ending in a 2-2 draw (2008 Olympics Qualifier) and so I believe playing against Japan is a good option to test several players who have shown improvements in the last few months.
“Also, since the London Olympics will be held during the fasting month, the NSI officials will also conduct several tests to see the energy level of players before and during the fasting month so that we will be ready to face the challenges,” said Beng Hai.
Malaysia will play in one of the three Olympic Qualifiers next year, after they lost 2-0 to Pakistan in the final of the Asian Games.
And Malaysia’s group will only be decided after the Oceania Cup on Oct 5-9 which involves Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
The Oceania Cup offers two tickets each for the men and women’s tournament and Australia and New Zealand are the sure bets in this lop-sided Qualifier.
But each of the Qualifiers only offer one ticket to London, and Malaysia will be walking on thin ice at the host venue, which could be either in Japan, India or Belgium.
“These friendlies against Japan, and then the Asian Champions Trophy are great run-ups to achieve targets set for the Champions Challenge and also the Olympic Qualifier.
“I will be testing players, as well as other conditions during the Japan friendlies and so if we do not achieve results in the matches, there is no reason to push the panic button.
“The end target is to do well in the Champions Challenge and then qualify for the Olympics,” said Beng Hai.
Today’s match will be held at 8.45pm, after the players break fast, while on Monday the match is slated at 6.50pm to gauge how the players perform at the tail end of their fasting day.