Past and present faces at TNB hockey book launch..

Stephen van Huizen: Joel is fine for Sea Games...

NATIONAL chief coach Stephen van Huizen will field his son Joel (pic) in the Sea Games, as he passed a medical test conducted on him recently.
  Joel collapsed twice in the World League Round Two in Dhaka in March, and before that he also collapsed while playing for Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club in the Malaysia Hockey League.
  After Dhaka, Joel was rested and not fielded for the Azlan Shah Cup as well as the World League Semifinals in London where Malaysia finished fourth and qualified for the World Cup in India next year.
  "After the Dhaka incidents, I rested him for two other tournaments but kept him in the training squad. He will play in the Sea Games because the ISN (National Sports Institute) conducted tests on him and gave an all-clear.
  "That was the first question NSC (National Sports Council) officials asked me when I presented the Sea Games list of 18 players to them.
  "And when I showed them the medical report, they agreed to field Joel," said van Huizen.
  In Dhaka, Joel became a centre of controversy when he suddenly collapsed while playing against Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals. And since he fell in an off-the-ball incident, the umpire flashed a red card to the nearest Sri Lankan because he thought the player had hit Joel on the head with his hockey stick.
  The Sri Lankan protested but was sent off with 20 minutes remaining in the match. 
  Match officials and umpires manager Amarjit Singh (a Malaysian) viewed the incident on video after the match and were shocked to watch Joel collapse on his own and the Sri Lankan never touched him.
  The red card was revoked, but the drama did not stop there.
  In the semi-finals against Egypt, Joel again collapsed and was stretchered out -- but this time the umpires were wiser.
  Technical Director terry Walsh had said in Dhaka then: "Numerous test have been conducted on this boy (Joel) but they stil can't find the reasons for his sudden black-outs."
  And van Huizen is confident the problem will not affect Joel in the Sea Games.
  "Well talking as a father, if Joel was in any danger, I will not field him. But since his tests with ISN did not indicate anything and they gave him a clean bill of health, there is no reason why he can't play in the Sea Games," said van Huizen.
 MALAYSIA (men's field hockey): S. Kumar (gk), Hafizuddin Othman (gk), Razie Rahim, Sukri Mutalib, Izad Hakimi, Faiz Helmi, Azri Hassan, Marhan Jalil, Fitri Saari, Nabil Fiqri, Meor Azuan, Joel Samuel Van Huizen, Ramadan Rosli, Shahril Saabah, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Rashid Baharom, Nik Aiman Rozemi, Faizal Saari.

Legends who attended Datuk Ow Soon Kooi's press conference...

Ow Soon Kooi: I quit because of medical and meddlers...

COLUMN BY JUGJET SINGH

DATUK OW Soon Kooi likes to stay away from controversies, and is always diplomatic even though the situation warrants otherwise.

  And so it came as a surprise when he called for a press conference to clear the air on why he resigned from the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) vice-president as well as coaching committee chairman posts in a huff.

  He had, then, cited health reasons for quitting every post in the MHC.

 But yesterday, he said he had to clear the air as allegations in news and other media had tarnished his corporate-man image.

  And no less than whose-who in Malaysian hockey attended his press conference at the Olympic Council of Malaysia hotel.

  In walked 1975 World Cup members Datuk Poon Fook Loke, R. Pathmarajah and skipper Datuk Sri Shanmuganathan.

  And for good measure 'they brought along' 1975 World Cup famous umpire Datuk G. Vijayanathan who blew during the India-Pakistan final.

  Former national juniors coach Balbir Singh, international Gurmit Singh, M. Sambu ... and it looked like a re-union of greats as even some women national players came.

  But it was not a merry get-together, as they had come to listen to former skipper and two time Olympian as well as two time World Cup player Ow speak his heart. 

  Ow started by presenting all the work his committee has done over the years, with statistics, to show that his committee was not dormant as alleged by many.

  And he also said the reason why they only had one meeting in 2016 was because everything was in place by then, and they ran the show by making decisions on a social media group-chat.

  Ow said that his reputation as a corporate man was built on being strict about rules and hierarchy. He doesn't believe in breaking rank, and followed procedure to be where he is today from a poor, a very poor background.

  Being a former policeman did not 'help' when he watched others breaking this hierarchy rules.

  And that's why when MHC officials made decisions on behalf of his committee and compelled them to follow -- it made him mad.

  He gave examples which named four officials of being guilty, with the prime target being Technical Director Terry Walsh.

  Ow gave examples where Walsh made coaching decisions without consulting his committee, and it made them wonder who is running the show.

  Citing an example, Ow narrated about the hiring of Paul Lissek to become the indoor hockey consultant for Sea Games.

  Walsh had approached Ow about the matter and when asked, he was told that Lissek is willing to work for free or at a nominal feel -- as Lissek had coached the Malaysian field hockey team before and was very knowledgeable about indoor hockey as well.

  Ow and Walsh agreed on an RM X amount to be paid to Lissek as a consultant. But after three weeks, Ow found out that Lissek was being paid six and a half time higher than the discussed salary.

  When he asked an MHC official about it, the official said he had raised the salary all by himself -- without consulting anybody.

  There were many other examples of meddling in his committee, but the Lissek episode broke the camels back, and coupled with his nagging neck pain, Ow decided to call it a day.

  Attempts to call and SMS MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal to clear the air on the above issue were not answered.

Lissek believes Malaysia can become an indoor powerhouse...

INDOOR SILVER .. Malaysian women pose with the Indoor silver won in Doha in April.

GERMAN Paul Lissek is so impressed with the Malaysian men's indoor hockey team, that he feels like hitting his head against the wall for not starting a programme 10 years ago.
  For, the Malaysian team are new to the game and only took it seriously when it was included in the KL Sea Games next month, but after a short stint the men are almost 'professionals'.
  The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) were initially shocked when the indoor game was included for the first time in the Sea Games, but took up the challenge, and now it might become a permanent fixture in the country.
  "The players have only been training seriously for months, but are playing really well and I ask myself -- if we had started indoor 10 years ago, maybe we might have been among the medallists in the indoor World Cup," said former national coach Lissek who has been roped in as an indoor consultant as the sport is strange to local coaches.
  The Malaysian men played in the Asian Indoor Championship in Doha in April and surprisingly, finished fifth. The champions are Iran, followed by Kazakhstan and Qatar.
  "That was April, but only a few months down the line, the Malaysian men look like they could have entered the Asian final and even beaten Iran to the gold.
  "That's how much they have improved," said Lissek.
  And now that a team has been formed, and the first international standard indoor venue in the country has been built at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec), Lissek hopes the sport catches on like wildfire.
  "Indoor is Malaysia's chance to stand at the top of the Podium in Asia, and in the long run a medal at the World Cup. So lets continue with the programme after the Sea Games."
  As for the women, Lissek feels physical appearance could pose a problem.
  "The women are also very good but a little soft physically and that could cause some problems in tournaments. However, we will only know their true strength after they play against Indonesia and Thailand in the Games," said Lissek.
   Surprisingly, Malaysian women beat the odds to claim a silver in the Asia indoor Championship when they lost only 2-0 to Kazakhstan in the final.
  The men will have a final warm-up against Australian side New South Wales in the first week of August and it will surely show their true strength.