July 23, 2018 @ 4:53pm
MATADOR HOCKEY CLUB players with former national juniors coach Balbir Singh and Olympian Maninderjit Singh. The team only had one practice session on the indoor surface but held three teams to a 0-0 draw and only lost one match 1-0 in Group C in the inaugural C. Sivasubramaniam Cup .
KUALA LUMPUR: KLANG Crows HC hosted the inaugural C. Sivasubramaniam Cup Under-12 indoor hockey tournament on Sunday where 180 boys in 20 teams had fun as well as underwent a learning curve which can't be explained in a classroom.
Indoor hockey rules and surface are different from field hockey, and many of the youngsters had trouble adapting to the surface, shoes as well as indoor hockey sticks.
But once they mastered it after a few games, it was a joy watching them making deft short passes as well as using the 'side iron bars' as a team-mate in one-two situations.
Former national field hockey player Rodhanizam Mat Radzi was at the Real Sports Arena in Klang to witness the tournament as well as play an exhibition match between veterans to show the youngsters how the indoor game is played.
But he was an unhappy man after the match.
"I believe there is great potential in this indoor game which has yet to be fully tapped in Malaysia. Just look at the players present today, they adapted to the rules and surface within an hour of playing.
"But to make it big like field hockey, the indoor game needs more commitment from the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC). We hosted it at the KL Sea Games and played in the Asia Cup last year, but after that indoor hockey is no longer active," lamented the former national player.
Malaysia had hosted three consecutive Indoor Asia Cup tournaments in Ipoh in 2008, 2009 and 2010 where the men won three silver medals -- lost all three finals to Iran.
However, Malaysian women were champions in 2008 and bronze medallists in the next two years.
Rodhanizam felt Malaysia could do well in the indoor World Cup: "I believe is we start with the under-12 like today, and have serious backing from the MHC, Malaysia can excel in the indoor World Cup."
For the record, in the last Indoor Asia Cup in 2017 Doha, even though the men were not impressive, Malaysian women only lost 2-0 to Kazakhstan in the final.
And at the Under-12 tournament in Klang Sunday, Kuala Lumpur Boys A lifted the inaugural C. Sivasubramaniam Cup, which was wholly managed by amateur officials who made many blunders, but all was forgoten in the spirit of learning .
■Champion
KL BOYS 'A'
■Finalist
TRIGGER HT
■Joint 3rd
ULTIMATE HOCKEY TEAM
HIGHLANDER HC
■Joint 5th
STAR HC 'A'
LA SALLE PANDA
KL BOYS 'B'
MPS HOCKEY KIDS SEREMBAN
■Best Goalkeeper
Mohamad Farham Idan
■Man of the match
Fahmi- KL Boys A
■Best player of the tournament
Haziq- La Salle Panda
■Top Scorer
Mohamad Hakim - Trigger HT
