GIVE NEW-LOOK SPEEDY TIGERS ROOM TO IMPROVE - SARJIT

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Bernama) -- National men’s hockey team head coach Sarjit Singh has called on Malaysians to give the new-look Speedy Tigers time and space to grow into a potent force ahead of the 30th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup that will be held at Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Perak from Saturday (May 4) until May 11.

He hopes fans will not place high expectations on the team especially since the Speedy Tigers, ranked 13th in the world, will head into the tournament as defending champions after winning the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for the first time in 2022 since its inception in 1983.

"People should not judge the Speedy Tigers. We are developing this team. Be patient. Let the team grow (and improve) gradually. 

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"The friendly against New Zealand yesterday (May 1) was high quality. We are a new team. We have also not done our fitness training programme yet due to time constraints. Imagine if we had done that programme, the team would have performed much better. But they will only get better. Give them that space to improve," he said in a statement today. 

Sarjit said he was also impressed with the 'extraordinary' performances of five players - the Saari brothers of Faizal and Fitri, midfielder Marhan Jalil, goalkeeper Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman (all seniors) and new goalkeeper Che Shahrul Azmi - in the friendly against the Kiwis.

Malaysia showed glimpses of what they are capable of doing in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup when they edged New Zealand 3-2 in a friendly in Ipoh yesterday.

He, however, said that the 18 players to be shortlisted for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will be aware that competition will only get tougher but the message is loud and clear - they must play their hearts out.

“We are looking for committed and hard-working players. There is no doubt we have a lot of them. Our target - the 2026 Asian Games - is 30 months away. Our long-term focus is to prepare this team for the Asiad.

“We are not only talking about the 18 players selected for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. They are just a fraction of the whole squad of 30 players. In every tournament, we are going to change players and everyone will get a chance to play in as many matches to gain exposure and experience,” said Sarjit.

He added that this was just the first phase of trying out the 18 shortlisted players, while four or five more players will feature in the next two tournaments.

Sarjit said the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is just the start of the journey for the Speedy Tigers, whose next stop will be the Six Nations in Poland (May 30-June 9), followed by the Asian Champions Trophy in Inner Mongolia (Sept 8-17).

Malaysia will begin their Sultan Azlan Shah Cup campaign against three-time champions Pakistan on May 4 before taking on Canada on May 5, two-time champions New Zealand (May 7), Japan (May 8) and three-time champions South Korea (May 10). 

-- BERNAMA