Revington quits

 

K. Dharmaraj (right) will replace Paul Revington as the national seniors chief coach.

STUNNER: South African coach cites health reasons, Dharmaraj to guide the senior squad

SOUTH African Paul Revington has quit as national seniors chief coach, again, and this time it is final as Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has accepted his resignation.

    And K. Dharmaraj will fill his shoes as the national seniors coach, while Revington's assistant Arul Selvaraj will helm the juniors side.

    This decision was taken at a hush-hush meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, with the official announcement only due to be made by MHC today.

   Revington sent in his quit letter last week, and on Thursday was present to name the 35 trainees for the senior World Cup, as well as the Azlan Shah Cup, the Champions Challenge, the Commonwalth Games and the Asian Games -- all of which will be held this year.

   Revington never gave any indication that he had sent in his quit letter, and was his jovial self when asked about his wife's pregnancy after the press conference to name the trainees.

    "My wife is due in the first week of March, and the delivery will be in Malaysia. After 13 years, we will finally have twins. One boy and one girl," said Revington, without a hint of the drama to unfold.

    But before the press conference to name the trainees, Dharmaraj had told this scribe that there is going to be a major reshuffle next week, but decline to give further details when pressed further.
    Dharmaraj did not return calls or text messages, but Revington did reply to an sms: "I have resigned, that is correct, I can talk but I don't want to give any official quotes yet."

    This is the second time the South African has sent in a quit letter, the first being in on June 15, 2013.

    Then, the MHC coaching committee met at Bukit Jalil, with its 16 members proposing that Junior World Cup coach K. Dharmaraj and 1Mas project director Lim Chiow Chuan be removed from their duties.

    Apparently, both Dharmaraj and Chiow Chuan had a hand in Revington's sudden decision even though the World League was to be held in Johor Baru on June 29-July 7.

   But an intervention by MHC president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah saw Revington withdraw his resignation letter, and helmed Malaysia to finish fifth in the World League and qualify for the World Cup at the Hague, Netherlands on May 31 to June 15.

   And when Revington named the training squad, he was asked if he could work with Dharmaraj who was promoted to the senior side after Malaysia finished fourth in the Junior World Cup.

   Revington answered: "I have had problems in the past with the coach (Dharmaraj) but now that we will be preparing a team for the World Cup and Asian Games, there are no problems. He (Dharmaraj) will be given tasks to prepare the team."

   Apparently, Revington quit due to health reasons.


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