Autopsy, not postmortem needed...

POLES celebrate their golden haul. -- Pic By Pic: Adrian Boehm

UNOFFICIALLY, Malaysia are now number 18 in the world after finishing fourth in Division Three of the world hockey league.
So Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah will surely not see his boys break into the top 10 in his tenure.
Champions Trophy has six teams, Champions Challenge eight teams, and since Malaysia finished fourth in the Champions Challenge II, it means we are 18th among 22 teams who actively play hockey in the world.
So many postmortems have been done in the last decade, after a string of failures, that another one will be a waste of time. For a fact, an autopsy is what the dead body of hockey needs right now to find the source that finally led to its demise.
Poland gained promotion to the Champions Challenge when they beat Ireland 5-4 on penalty strokes after a 3-3 deadlock.
The Poles remained unbeaten in this lowly ranked tour nament, and emerged as the best among the worst.
And this is what the Polish have back home --- even though they are ranked 20th in the world, they are number two in Indoor Hockey in Europe.
And they only have two men’s senior leagues, with 10 teams in Division One and seven teams in Division Two, with only two towns, Poznan and Siemianowice Slaskie, playing hockey.
In Malaysia, the national team is virtually together in camp or playing tournaments, and international friendlies for at least 300 days a year, and the results show effective this system is.
The juniors are 12th in the world, and this shows that even after this batch of seniors retire, at least in five years time, the replacements will not be able to dig themselves out of the grave that they have dug for themselves.
There are eight under-23 players in the present senior squad, but all of them have more international exposure than many players in the Polish team which won gold.
This only shows that the present system of concentration too much on the national team, until not even allowing them to play in the local leagues months ahead of any international tournament, has killed off club hockey which is the source of excitement, and pride of European countries.
This year alone we have played in four tournaments, and only have the Azlan Shah Cup silver medal to show. The Asia Cup was a fourth placed disaster, the Junior World Cup 12th, and now fourth again.
Even in Asia, Malaysia are ranked fourth, so the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) can forget about winning gold medal in the November World Cup Qualifier, as it has never been done since Malaysia played in its first Olympics in 1956 in Melbourne.
The only podium finishes are at the Sea Games, and it looks like we will only be best among the ASEAN teams for another decade.
RESULTS: Final -- Poland 3 Ireland 3 (Poland win 5-4 on penalty strokes); Third-Fourth: France 3 Malaysia 3 (France win on golden goal); Fifth-Sixth: Japan 9 Russia 2; Seventh- Eighth: Austria 4 Chile 2.
Final Ranking: 1 Poland, 2 Ireland, 3 France, 4 Malaysia, 5 Japan, 6 Russia, 7 Austria, 8 Chile.

Poland gain gold and promotion

Champion's Challenge II: Ireland denied on strokes

Poland 3 (Marcin Strykowski 2, Dariusz Rachwalski) Ireland 3 (Mikey Watt 2, John Jermyn); Poland win 5-4 on penalties
Ireland let the inaugural Champion’s Challenge II title slip through their fingers at Belfield this afternoon as they let a commanding lead and performance come unstuck in the closing stages of a pulsating final battle against Poland.

Nightmare sets in

France 4

Genestet 16m; Soyez 18m; Jean-Jean 41m; Soyez AET

Malaysia 3

Hafifi Hafiz 41st, S. Selvaraju 58th, Razie Rahim 65th.

MALAYSIA took the match into extra-time, before bowing out to France 4-3 in the bronze fight at the Champions Challenge II in Dublin yesterday.
The Challenge ended with no medal to show, and now the challenge of rebuilding for the world cup qualifiers will start when they return home.
Malaysia were 2-0 down 20 minutes into the match, and it looked like it was all over, and they were heading for a hiding.
But Hafifi hafiz pulled one back in the 41st minute, only to see France sail ahead to a 3-1 lead in the 41st minute.
However, goals from S. Selvaraju and Razie Rahim in the 58th and 65th minutes respectively took Malaysia into the extra-time playoff.
However, France bounced back and scored a golden goal for the bronze medal.
Malaysia will now have to re-build before the New Delhi World Cup qualifier in November, where only the gold medallists gain entry.
There will be three qualifiers, and the four Asian teams who will play for the three tickets are Malaysia, China, Japan and Pakistan. Africa and Oceania will have one team each, while Europe will have a brigade of nine teams, and Pan America three teams.
There will be six teams battling for one ticket in each qualifier, and it looks like another uphill task for Malaysia to play in New Delhi.
RESULTS: Third-Fourth: Malaysia 3 France 3 (France win golden goal); Fifth-Sixth: Japan 9 Russia 2; Seventh-Eighth: Austria 4 Chile 2.

MHF Coaching Committee in big mess

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) coaching com mittee meeting on Saturday saw council members revolt against their president Dr Balbir Singh, and there was a stand-off until all the members he appointed were sacked, before calm was restored.
Dr Balbir, who could not be contacted for comment, stormed out of the meeting, but returned later to helm the committee. It is said that he will quit the committee by Tuesday, after meeting MHF president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
Among those who were removed was their secretary R. Vivikanandan and five standing committee members ap pointed by the president.
“It was stormy, and tables were thumped, to put it mildly, as state representatives were angry because the appoint ments were constitutionally illegal. And the meeting only resumed after the president agreed to remove all the illegal appointments,” said a coaching committee member who declined to be named.
A vote to remove the standing committee and secretary was held, and the outcome was 7-1 in favour of removing them. Two members abstained, while four other state rep resentatives did not attend the meeting.
In their place, the various state representatives are now made members, while seven new members were appointed to the standing committee.
Another issue that he members were unhappy about was the manner coaches for the various age-groups, and national teams were selected.
“We were never consulted when coaches were appointed for the various age-groups, and national sides. The ap pointments were made by a member of the MHF council, and the coaching committee president was told to rubber stamp them.
“This is a serious issue, and from now, we will be making the recommendations, for the council to approve and not the other way around,” said a member.
Also thorny was the appointment of coaches to the Under- 16 and under-18 teams which played friendlies in Johor and Singapore during the Junior World Cup.
“Five coaches were appointed to both the age-groups without our knowledge, and we will get to the bottom of this issue when the MHF council meets in the middle of the month.”
As it is, respect for Malaysian hockey is at a low ebb, and a strong message needs to be sent by MHF president when he chairs the council meeting.

The defeat in pictures

S. Selvaraju down and out like the Malaysian team after they lost 2-1 to Ireland in the semis.
Ireland players jump for joy, while Malaysians can't believe their luck as the clock in the background turns 0:00