Skip to main content

Baljit puts decision to quit hockey on hold

Baljit Singh Charun (right) has been included in the Commonwealth Games squad by national coach K. Dharmaraj. — filepic
Baljit Singh Charun (right) has been included in the Commonwealth Games squad by national coach K. Dharmaraj. — filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: Defender Baljit Singh Charun has decided to put his quit decision on hold after being included in the national hockey team for next month’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

The 27-year-old was left out of three tournaments this year – the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh in March, the Champions Challenge 1 in Kuantan in April and last month’s World Cup in The Hague, Holland.

Following Malaysia’s disastrous show in the World Cup, national coach K. Dharmaraj promptly included Baljit in the Games squad. Malaysia finished last among the 12 teams, losing all their six matches and conceded 26 goals.

“I featured in all the tournaments for the national team last year. Suddenly, I was not required any more this year. I thought of quitting if failed to get a place for the Commonwealth Games,” said Baljit, who has 191 international caps.

The Kuala Lumpur-born Baljit is known for his guts. He is always the first out of the line when Malaysia defend against penalty corners.

“I have injured my knee a couple of times while stopping penalty corners, but it will not stop me from doing that in Glasgow.

“I hope to put up a good show in Glasgow as I want to secure a place in the team for the Asian Games (in Incheon in September),” said Baljit, who also played in the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

For the Commonwealth Games, Malaysia will open their Group B campaign against Canada on July 26. Their other matches are against England (July 27), Trinidad and Tobago (July 29) and New Zealand (July 31).

Defending champions Australia, India, Wales, South Africa and Scotland are in Group A.

The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) have not set any target for the team after a poor outing in the World Cup.


by Aftar Singh - The Star

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more