THE Malaysian hockey team are set to receive an Australian coach, as soon as Neil Hawgood gets a release
from the Indian HA.
Hawgood, 52, is a former Australian player who played in the 1988 Olympics. He played seven matches,
scoring five goals, as the Australian team finished fourth.
Hawgood is currently coaching the Indian women’s team but he is expected to sort out his contract and be
in Malaysia before the World League Round Two in Singapore on Jan 17-25. The Australian’s contract is till
2016.
In the World League Round Two, top seeds Malaysia will play Bangladesh, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Oman
and Ukraine. One more team will be the winners of the last Round One tournament which will be played in
Suva, Fiji on Dec 6-13. The teams involved are Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
After Hawgood retired as a player, he had coaching stints in London, Scotland, Queensland, Western
Australia and now India.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has been on the hunt for a foreign coach since South African
Paul Revington left early in the year, and has been playing musical chairs with K. Dharmaraj, Arul Selvaraj
and now Tai Beng Hai to lead the Singapore charge.
If Malaysia finish in the top three in Singapore, they will play in the semi-finals of the World League, either
in Argentina or Belgium, for a shot at the 2016 Olympics.
MHC officials declined to comment on the latest development, as president Tengku Abdullah Sultan
Ahmad Shah has imposed a gag order.
