KUALA LUMPUR: South Korean captain Lee Nam Young and penalty corner terror Jang Jong Hyun are both 39 years old, but will lead their charge to do maximum damage in Group B of the Asian Games starting on Sept 24.
Nam Young has 300 caps, while Jong Hyun has 321, and both have played in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) over the years.
The Korean skipper has been playing since 2002, and has featured in four consecutive World Cups in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2023. He has also played in the 2012 London and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Nam Young, who has two sons aged five and four, wants to retire after the Asian Games. "It's not going to be easy, but we want gold in Hangzhou even though the challenge will come from India, Pakistan, China and Malaysia," said Nam Young when met at the Bhubaneswar-Rourkela World Cup in January.
Jong Hyun's hockey history is long and exciting, as he has played in three Olympics in 2004, 2008, 2012 and four World Cups in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2023.
Comparatively, none of the Malaysian players have played at the Olympics, with Razie Rahim the oldest at 36 with 319 caps.
Can both the players take Korea into the Paris Olympics next year?
Triple Olympian Datuk Mirnawan Nawawi, the Malaysian team manager, feels both have aged but are still very dangerous.
"These two players have been with the South Korean outfit for ages as they also play for coach Shin's (Seok Kyo) club in Korea.
"Every time they want to retire from the national team, Shin ups their benefits and salaries in his club!
"This is because even though both are touching 40, they have good scoring abilities at the world level.
"When Malaysia play them at the group stage, we need to neutralise both to get good results," said Mirnawan.
Malaysia have their own secret weapons to check not only Korea, but possible semi-final opponents India, Pakistan or Japan.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has regularly brought in Australian Olympians Glenn Turner and Kieran Govers to train its players, and went one step more by including both the Australians in the Malaysian set-up in Hangzhou as assistant coaches.
The Malaysian men's team left for Hangzhou yesterday, and will open accounts against Thailand on Sunday followed by Oman, Indonesia, South Korea and China.
In Group A are India, Pakistan, Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan.
The Malaysian women will travel today, and are in Group A with Hong Kong, Singapore, India and South Korea. Winners of both the Asian Games hockey tournaments will receive an automatic ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics, and Malaysia are among the front runners in the men's event.