Battle for the second spot

PIC: Ernst & Young players celebrate winning the League title.

LEAGUE Champions Ernst & Young will be involved in an academic match against National Juniors today, while the battle Malaysia Hockey League’s (MHL) second spot in tensifies.
Tenaga Nasional and Sapura, both tied on 12 points, have two more matches in hand before they complete their League fixtures.
And Sapura look like they have the easier path, as they play Nur Insafi today, and then National Juniors, while Tenaga will have to beat Maybank and Ernst & Young if they want to keep pace.
The League matches end this weekend, after which the six teams in Division One and top-two teams in Division Two play in the quarter-finals for the TNB Cup.
TODAY: Division One: Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (Serem ban II Hockey Stadium, 5pm); Sapura v Nur Insafi (KLHA Stadium, 7pm); Ernst & Young v National Juniors (National Hockey Stadium, 7pm).
Division Two: UNIMAP v JLJ (Alor Star, 5pm); RMR vs UiTM (Tun Razak Stadium, 7pm); BPSS v Dolphin (Bandar Penawar SS, 5pm); Alam Shah v BJSS (National Stadium, 7pm).

Coach to be appointed soon

THE National Sports Council (NSC) is on standby mode, while waiting for the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) to submit names of potential coaches to chart the future of hockey in the country.
And among the coaches who have been approached is South Korean Kim Sang Ryul.
“We are waiting for the MHF to submit a name to take charge of Malaysian hockey, and I believe they already have several names and will short-list soon,” said National Sports Council director of international preparations Ariffin Ghani.
The MHF council did not seek renewal of chief coach Sarit Singh, his assistant Gurmit Singn and goalkeepers coach Shahid Ali Khan’s contracts which expire on Dec 31.
And this has brought about a massive vacuum, and the names of a few former local coaches is being tossed around as Sang Ryul’s assistants.
MHF secretary Hashim Yusoff said they will get to the bottom of matters, once coaching chairman Datuk Poon Fook Loke returns from London.
“The coaching chairman is overseas and will return in a few days. A meting will be called and I can only start my work after the coaching committee submits their candidate or candidates,” said Hashim.
Hashim said the coach or coaches will then be called for an interview, before they forward the selected coaches’ name the NSC.
“The council did decide that they are in favour of a foreign coach, and we will see what the coaching committee can come up with.”
However, it is no secret that senior members of the NSC had a meeting with with Sang Ryul in Thailand, and the MHF is also in favour of the South Korean.
Sang Ryul’s last assignment was with China, who finished 11th out of 12 teams in the Beijing Olympics.
He was with South Korea for 12 years, 1988-2000, and his team delivered silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Sang Ryul to face a lazy lot

MALAYSIA hockey players are a lucky lot, because they have been coached by the best in the world for the last 20 years, but we only have Sea Games gold medals to be proud of.
Malaysia have the distinction of having played at World Cups, Olympics, Champions Trophy, Champions Challenge, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and our very own Azlan Shah Cup.
But right from the first whistle way back at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics until today, the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) trophy cabinet has yet to house the glitter of gold, other than the pathetic Sea Games ‘achievements’.
The impressive foreign coaches’ list is Australian Terry Walsh, German Volker Knapp, German Paul Lissek, and now South Korean Kim Sang Ryul.
And other than Knapp, the rest are internationally ac claimed coaches who many a player would envy just to shake hands with.
But Walsh ran the race of his life towards the airport, while Lissek faced many brick-bats but held on grimly, and his contract as a consultant expires towards the end of next year.
Then there were the string of local coaches who came aboard with much fan-fare, but were shooed out like flies when their charges played like novices at the international level.
The latest penalty stroke was awarded against Sarjit Singh, who started by training juniors for the 2005 Junior World Cup, and rose to the senior ranks in 2007, only to be unceremoniously dumped -- without so much as a telephone call or SMS from the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) or his paymasters the National Sports Council (NSC).
Sarjit, a former national player who was a terror in his heydays, is now hockey history material, so lets look ahead and see what Sang Ryul can offer.
The FIH Master Coach is credited with uplifting the standard of hockey in South Korea and China men and women, and will soon arrive to coach a team who is ranked 15th in the world, and have a major assignment in the Asia Cup next year.
He coached China who finished 11th out of 12 teams in the Beijing Olympics, and was with South Korea for 12 years 1988-2000 and his team delivered silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Sang Ryul is well-known as a fitness freak, and this is where he will find the going tough in Malaysia. South Korea and China players improved under Sang Ryul because they not only relied on the coach, but followed his training programme when left on their own.
In Malaysia, the centralised training culture is our biggest downfall. All the previous coaches found out, the hard way, that Malaysian players are generally a lazy lot, who only train when the coach is around and even when given even a 10-day break, they return with extra kilos.
A good example for Sang Ryul will be to watch the ongoing Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) where all the national players are playing in.
A majority of the national players have put on weight since started playing in the MHL, and are now overweight and sluggish.
And when Sang Ryul takes over, he will have to start from scratch and many players will find the going too tough to handle. This is the least of the coaches’ problems.
Among the present batch, there are many skillful players but only a handful of thinking players who can change the game-plan when defending or attacking.
Too much of side-line coaching has turned many of them into robots who consistently need to be told where to pass the ball, when to attack, and when to defend.
Sang Ryul is no rookie, he knows the Malaysian players like the back of his hands, as he has plotted many times to beat them when coaching South Korea and China.
He is coming in with his eyes open, but will still find himself facing his worse coaching experience, as Malaysian players have a knack of baffling the best in the sport.
Good bye Sarjit, and good luck to Sang Ryul.

Sarjit disappointed, not dejected

NATIONAL hockey coach Sarjit Singh had a
meet-the-press session yesterday, and his only
bone of contention was that he had to read in the
papers that his contract will not be extended. Otherwise, he has no regrets coaching for the
past 22 months, as his record shows that he is
the most successfull local or foreign coach for
the past decade.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) council
decided on Saturday not to extend his contract,
which expires on Dec 31. The council is now
looking towards hiring South Korean coach Kim
Sang Ryul instead.
"I feel a little sad that I had to read in the
papers that my contract will not be renewed. I
feel the proper way would have been to inform me
first, and then make the announcement," lamented
Sarjit.
"Im also disappointed that the new MHF council
members did not meet with me to discuss, or hear
me out. The NSC (National Sports Council) who are
my paymasters, also did not talk to me about it,
although its their preregotive to make any
changes," said Sarjit.
But still, the former national skipper bears no
grudge against any party:
"I accept the change
and will take leave to assess my options. I would
like to be involved with hockey in the future,
but at what level, it still remains to be seen." When Sarjit took over in 2007, the national
team were ranked 16th, and now they are 15th.
"When I was appointed as national coach, the
task given to me was to prepare a team for the
2010 World Cup and the 2012 Olympics. And I would
like to state here that the Olympic Qualifiers in
Japan (April this year) was not a target set for
me, because the team had failed in the Doha Asian
Games, and were forced into the Qualifier.
"The Olympic Qualidiers in Japan was a
difficult tournament, as world No 1 Germany were
in our pool. Germany went on to win the Olympics
gold, and that sould tell what we were against,"
said Sarjit.
During his 22-month stint, Sarjit succeeded in
taking his team to silver in the 2007 Azlan Shah
Cup, a feat which was last achieved 22 years ago. And his charges also finished with a bronze
medal in the Asia Cup, which was a first for
Malaysia.
"My team also finsihed second in the recent
Hamburg Masters, which was the best achievement
by Malaysia as our previous best was a bronze in
2002.
"I feel it is unfair to be fast on the draw
when it involves local coaches, as we should be
given at least four years to prove ourselves,
like what the foreign coaches are given.
" He has set a target of Qualifying for the 2010
World Cup by virtue of the Asia Cup next year,
and the 2012 Olympics by being among the top-two
in the Asian Games.
"Lasty I would like to wish the new MHF
council all the best, and hope they will be able
to take hockey to a higher level.
"I would like to end by thanking all my players
who had given their full co-operation, as well as
former MHF deputy president Tunku Majid Sultan
Iskandar and the former MHF coaching committee."

End of the road for coach Sarjit Singh

MALAYSIAN Hockey Federation (MHF) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah chaired his first council meeting yesterday and did not waste any time in making a dramatic change in the coaching department withthe contracts of three senior team coaches not being renewed.
Chief coach Sarjit Singh (pic), assistant coach Gurmit Singh and goalkeeping coach Shahid Ali Khan will not have their respective contracts renewed. The council has decided to hire South Korean Kim Sang Ryul as head coach.
All three local coaches’ contracts expire on Dec 31.
Sang Ryul, who is credited with uplifting the standard of hockey in South Korea and China, is expected to arrive soon. The council has also given him a free hand to select his team of assistant coaches and physical trainers.
Sarjit, when contacted, said he will make a statement today.
And there were also new faces appointed to the various committees with some former MHF hands re-appointed.
Chairing the Consultative Committee is previous president Tan Sri Admiral (rtd) Anwar Mohd Nor, while past MHF deputy president Tan Sri P. Alagendra, National Sports Council director general Datul Zolkples Embong and National Sports Institute director general Datuk Ramlan Aziz are among its members.
And in the Wawasan Committee, the chairman is Datuk Mazlan Ahmad, while among the members are Datuk Ho Koh Chye, and former players Mirnawan Nawawi and Maninderjit Singh.
The Coaching Committee is now chaired by Datuk Poon Fook Loke, while the Development Committee is chaired by Ken Pereira.
The Umpires Board also saw a change with international umpire Amarjit Singh tasked to helm it, while Datuk Dr S.S. Cheema will chair the Medical Committee.
Tengku Abdullah, as promised after taking over the MHF, has made some drastic changes in coaching as well as the various committees which have been entrusted with taking Malaysia into the top-10 bracket in the world by the 2010 London Olympics.