‘Stand up and be counted in the QNET 4th Men’s Asian Champions Trophy’.
These are the encouraging words from Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) President Dato’ Sri Subahan Kamal to the ‘Speedy Tigers’ Malaysian team on Saturday before the players boarded the bus for the three-hour journey to Kuantan for the fourth edition of Asia’s premier hockey tournament.
The host plays two-time champions Pakistan in the opening match on Oct 20 (Thursday) at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium. The other teams involved are 2011 champions India, China, Japan and Korea.
“I hope all of you will show your true form in Kuantan. We have the quality to match any of the teams in the QNET Asian Champions Trophy. We must translate this into winning ways and that is only possible with a concerted effort and good performance from the team,” he told the players.
The MHC President was accompanied during the session by Senior Deputy President, Prof Shamala Subramaniam, Vice-President Datuk Ow Soon Kooi and MHC Technical Director Terry Walsh.
“Our mission is to qualify for the semi-finals in Kuantan. The QNET Asian Champions Trophy is also the first stage in getting back on track on the world stage. Our world rankings have dropped to 14th and we have to improve on this,” he told the players.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation president is also confident of the national senior men’s team realigning from its current world ranking of 14 to top eight in the next two years.
In past Asian Champions Trophy editions, Pakistan has been the most successful team with two Asian Champions Trophy gold medals and silver, while India has occupied the top of the podium once. The Malaysians took bronze medals in 2011, 2012 and 2013, while the Koreans will be making their Asian Champions Trophy debut this year.
The Asian Champions Trophy 2016 will follow a round robin format, with each team playing each other once. The top four teams after the round robin phase will advance to semi-finals, then final, while the teams ranked fifth and sixth in the pool will play off once for fifth place.
