KUALA LUMPUR: Millions of ringgit has been spent on the national men's hockey team, but their results are getting worse, and even to the point of embarrassment.
Who is to be blamed for this pathetic state of affairs in Malaysian hockey?
It is clearly evident that the National Hockey Development Programme (NHDP) has failed to produce quality players for the national team.
Malaysia need reliable players to form a decent national team, but sadly we don't have such players.
When there are no quality players in the team, no coach in the world can help Malaysia.
Sports are all about having talents that can be developed into world class athletes, but Malaysia is sorely lacking in this aspect.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) has admitted that its National Development Hockey Programme is not working.
MHC Coaching Committee chairman Datuk Manjit Majid Abdullah said: "These are the only players available in the national team to play in tournaments.
"There is definitely something wrong with the national development programme.
"I talked to national junior assistant coach I. Vickneswaran on the matter, and we are very concerned with our national development programme.
"We need to look into it as soon as possible."
The national team, under coach Sarjit Singh, hit a new low at the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, with a humiliating 4-2 defeat to unfancied China on Monday.
And on Wednesday, world No. 13 Malaysia were routed 8-1, their worst ever, by world No. 5 India.
Today, Sarjit's men managed to record their first win in the ACT. The Speedy Tigers only earned their first win in the ACT yesterday after scraping past Japan 5-4.
Manjit added: "Sarjit only took charge of the national team in March, please give him some time to rebuild the team."
But judging from the poor performance of the national players in the ACT, Malaysia don't stand a chance of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Only the gold medal winners at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya will get an automatic berth for LA2028.
And the MHC has set a target for the national team to win the 2026 Asian Games gold. It looks like mission impossible.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the performance of the national team at the ACT is disappointing.
Yeoh said she wants to meet the MHC to find out what is happening to the Speedy Tigers.
"The result (against India) was disappointing but I need to get in touch with the MHC to ask what is happening.
"They have a new coach and they should have a new key performance indicator.
"I have not had a chance to meet with the MHC as I have just returned from the Paris Paralympics, but I believe we will get an explanation from them," Yeoh added.