FORMER national hockey team forward Datuk Poon Fook Loke has called upon all Malaysian hockey fans to support the Young Tigers in the upcoming FIH Junior World Cup.   Fook Loke, a member of the legendary 1975 Malaysian team that still stands proud of finishing fourth in the World Cup, said he has for the last three weeks been observing the Young Tigers in training at the National Hockey Stadium. “I believe that they have done very well since competing in the Sultan of Johor Cup last month. In the SOJC, it was a matter of missing a lot of goals, fitness a bit, and speed. After three weeks of having seen them train, they did a lot of groundwork on their shortcomings in indirect free hits, penalty corners and all those little things they did not do during the Johor Cup,” said Fook Loke.   “This team will go far. Give them the room to play good hockey. Don’t run them down. Give them all the support. Seeing is believing. They have gone through all the hardship. They have done their homework. I have seen a lot. When you have done your homework, it is difficult to fail the exam!   The Juniors will play Chile in their opening Group A match on Dec 5. The other teams in the group are defending champions Argentina and Australia.   Poon, who had the privilege of competing in two Olympic Games, three World Cups, the Asian Games, SEA Games, Asian All Stars (1974) and the World XI (1982), gave an inspiring speech to the juniors on Thursday night after their friendly match against coach A. Arul’s senior team. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.   “Today we have seen that they have put the senior team under pressure. They were 1-0 up. They only made two short corners against six by the senior teams who could not score. That shows that a lot of improvement has been made. Of course, the juniors can’t be missing simple goals. If you don’t score you cannot win!” he added.   “I must say that this team has given us a lot of hope. Let’s give them the support they need. Encourage them. It is a very good team. They are so eager to learn. The presence of Christopher (Ciriello) has helped a lot. Rain and shine he is here with the team. This is the expertise we need to pass on to our junior coaches like Amin (Rahim), Tengku (Ahmad Tajuddin), and Baljit Singh must follow through. They are doing a great job. Others are a big gap behind,” said Fook Loke, adding that the team’s strong point is its hunger for success.  

The greatest thing that he saw on the pitch on Thursday night, said Fook Loke, was the ‘bonding’ between the senior and junior team coaches, as well as the players from both sides. It was akin to watching one big happy family working together towards achieving the success of the Malaysian Juniors.   “It was a great thing I saw tonight. Both the coaches, senior and junior teams (A. Arul and Amin) shared their knowledge in practicing all the attacking and defense strategies together. Even all the senior players worked closely for the benefit of our juniors. For a long time, we did not get to see this kind of camaraderie on the field in our country.   “They are very cooperative. Last time we were pinching players. You don’t touch my junior player and you don’t touch my senior player. It’s so heartening to see this kind of beautiful relationship in our national teams. I am so touched!