Shin: Olympics on my mind...

By Jugjet Singh
jugjet@nst.com.my


KUALA LUMPUR: South Korean Shin Seok Kyo is a likeable coach, and his bubbly antics never fail to break a smile on the faces of those around him.
  But underneath, he is a deadly plotter whose aim right now is to prepare his charges to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo.
  After a disappointing fifth in the Jakarta Asian Games, the coach is looking forward to the Azlan Shah Cup to regain their glory days.
  "It was a very bad Asian Games for us and right now we are in the mood to qualify for the Olympics, and Azlan Shah will give us a chance to prepare early for our qualifier later in the year," said an ever smiling Shin.
  South Korea whipped Malaysia 6-0 and Japan 4-1 in earlier friendlies, and when they became joint-champions with India in the 2010 Azlan Shah Cup, they had also demolished Malaysia 6-0 and Japan 4-0 in the run-up back then.
  (Note: India and South Korea were declared joint champions after a thunderstorm disrupted the final).
  "I seriously don't know how we beat Malaysia 6-0 in the (Tuesday) friendly, but we did the same when we became joint champions for the first time, and we will ride on that in every match we play here.
  "The end target is to qualify for the Olympics, and so we have brought our best for the Cup," said Shin.
  South Korea open against Canada today, and it is expected to be a cracker.
  Canada coach Paul Bundy is also looking towards the FIH Series Finals which Malaysia will host in April.
  "This is an early preparation for my players, acclimatization as well, as we will be playing in the Olympic Qualifier in KL again soon. We are second to India on world ranking here, but that means nothing if we do not play to our best capabilities as every team here is capable of upsetting the other," said Bundy.