Dharmaraj to coach women's indoor hockey squad - Subahan

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 – The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has appointed Muhammad Dharmaraj Abdullah as head coach of the women's indoor hockey squad with immediate effect until the SEA Games.

MHC president, Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said the decision was made to ensure the country meets its target of bagging the gold target at the SEA Games in Philippines from Nov 30 to Dec 11.

He said the decision to appoint Dharmaraj who is now the national women's hockey coach was made following a request by the National Sports Council (NSC) which wanted the indoor hockey squad to be given more attention and assistance especially when field hockey is not competed in the coming championships.

The decision also saw the existing head coach, Yahya Atan returning to the squad development with S. Velappan and Nasihin Nubli, while the ‘Malaysian Tigress’ will be guided by two assistants of Dharmaraj, namely Lailin Abu Hassan and Roslan Jamaluddin until Dharmaraj has completed his task for SEA Games.

“All parties are aware that Dharmaraj is doing a good job, so we are confident he would carry out the mission well even though SEA Games is only two months away. This is a recognition for him from NSC for his efforts all this while.

“We have also registered players (from Malaysian Tigress), including several key figures to the SEA Games, so it is up to Dharma to restructure the squad,” he told a media conference after attending the MHC board meeting at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.

Subahan said MHC is confident the men's indoor hockey squad under Amin Rahim and the women's squad could realise the target of two gold medals.           In the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in 2017, four gold medals were offered for hockey and Malaysia swept three via men's and women's field hockey teams as well as the men's indoor hockey squad while the women's indoor hockey could only claim a bronze medal.

-- BERNAMA