Hawgood takes over as national hockey coach

Malaysia's new hockey coach Neil Hawgood from Australia watching the national side during the World Hockey League Round Two tournament in Singapore recently. - BERNAMA

SINGAPORE: Neil Hawgood will be the coach when Malaysia compete in the World Hockey League Semi-Finals in Belgium from June 20-July 5.

The 52-year-old Australian was hired by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) as a consultant two weeks ago. He was in Singapore to observe the team in the just-concluded World League Second Round. Malaysia, with Tai Beng Hai as the coach and Stephen van Huizen as his assistant, emerged champions to qualify for the Semi-Finals, which is a qualifying tournament for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

MHC vice-president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad said they were grateful to Beng Hai for leading the team to win the Second Round.

“Beng Hai has proven himself to be a good coach, but Neil will be in charge of the team at the World League Semi-Finals.

“Beng Hai will be the assistant coach as well as the team manager. We will also retain Stephen as the assistant coach,” said Nur Azmi, who was the team manager in Singapore.
Nur Azmi added that the national players would be given a one-week break after their exertions in Singapore.

“The players will then resume training for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (in Ipoh from April 2-12). There are 25 players in the training squad, but Neil wants to call another 15 players to form a bigger pool of players. Our priority this year is the World League Semi-Finals as we want to do well to qualify for the Olympics,” said Nur Azmi.

by Aftar Singh - The Star

Comments

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...

Organising Major Sports Events Can Inspire Sports Culture Among The People - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- Organising major sports events can help inspire sports culture among the people and ensure a healthy lifestyle said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said the Tour of Malaysia cycling race organised since 1963, for example, can encourage more people to take the sport in a more competitive way or just for recreation purposes. "A study carried out by a world renown medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that 61 percent of adults in Malaysia do not engage themselves in active sports. "A study by the Health Ministry revealed that only 25 percent of Malaysians exercise," he said in his speech when launching the 2013 Tour of Malaysia (Jelajah Malaysia) at the Youth and Sports Ministry, here, Wednesday. "Cycling, though not as popular here as in countries like Denmark, the activity is becoming popular among the people as can be seen through an increase in sale of bicycles for recreation," he sa...

Sports press clippings on the 24 April 2008

Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob (centre) speaks to athletes after giving away the Olympic qualifying incentives in Putrajaya yesterday. — Pic: RAMDZAN MASIAM Thomas Cup Equally Important, Says Ismail PUTRAJAYA, April 23 (Bernama) -- Although Malaysia want badly a badminton gold at the Beijing Olympics in August, winning the Thomas Cup in Jakarta in May is equally important, said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob. "My ministry deems all events participated by the national badminton squad as important including the Thomas Cup, which Malaysia last won in 1992. "Statements made that the Beijing Olympics takes precedence over other events is not the position of the ministry," he told reporters at his office here today. Ismail said no matter what events Malaysians competed, seeking glory for the nation should be the overriding priority. He said this when asked to comment on remarks by national badminton chief coach Yap Kim Hock on...

Malaysian Sports - Today's back pages!

Search This Blog