Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Come and see me, Dangerous...

MALAYSIAN Hockey Confederation (MHC) president feels players should not quit when the going tough, especially if they want to represent the country in World Cups and Olympics.
  He was commenting on Junior World Cup trainee Dangerous Lee from Sarawak who threw in the towel via an SMS to coach K. Dharmaraj because he felt he no longer could compete with his team-mates for a spot in the New Delhi tournament in December.
  "I will leave it to the coach to decide on the next course of action on the player who called it quits 12 months from the World Cup. And my message for the others who aspire to don national coulours is not to give up so easily," said MHC President Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
  Tengku Mahkota suggested counseling Dangerous Lee, but the Sarawakian had quit the national juniors for the third time in three years and it looks like coach Dharmaraj has had enough of him.
  "First of all if Dangerous Lee wants to fight for his spot back in the training squad again he must come and see me personally because sending quit SMS is an insult to everybody who has been preparing the Junior World Cup side for the last two years.
  "He must apologise to his team mates for running away when push came to shove and maybe then, I will send him for counseling and mental training (with National Sports Institute) and see what happens.
  "But first of all, he must come and meet me and explain why he quit and not hide behind SMSs," said Dharmaraj.
  Dangerous played in the Sultan of Johor Cup and then the  Obaidullah Gold Cup in Bhopal at the end of last year, and  that was when he chickened out after seeing how his skills  are nothing compared to India club players.
  Dangerous then sent an SMS to the coach which read: “Coach I will not be  attending training tomorrow morning and I hope coach  accepts my decision to pull out of the (World Cup) training  squad.
   “I feel that I can’t make progress anymore as I can’t  compete with others. Sorry coach..tq.”
  There are 27 players in training for the Junior World Cup in December in New Delhi. Malaysia qualified by becoming the Junior Asia Cup champions in Malacca.
  On another matter, Tengku Abdullah said no action will be taken against Sabah for pulling out of the Junior Hockey League just three days before the tournament starts.
  "Sabah had a legitimate reason to withdraw from the JHL as their Education Ministry did not want to release players, or find new schools for their players for a period of two months.
  "No action would be taken on Sabah HA as they had a team, but could not play for a valid reason," said Tengku Abdullah.