KUALA LUMPUR: The King of drag flicks, Sohail Abbas, has been hired by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) to help the national senior and junior teams improve their penalty corner conversion.
The 49-year-old Pakistani holds the world record of scoring 348 goals in 311 international matches from 1998 to 2012.
MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said they had wanted the services of Australian drag flicker Chris Ciriello but he could not be here full time due to other commitments.
"So, we managed to get hockey legend Sohail who has been given a one-year contract, effective from today (Oct 1)," said Subahan yesterday.
"Sohail specialises in penalty corner drag flicks. He will work with national coach Sarjit Singh.
"Penalty corners are very important to win matches. During the Asian Champions Trophy (in Inner Mongolia, China last month) we earned a lot of penalty corners but the conversion rate was about 20 per cent.
"We need an expert like Sohail to help improve the conversion rate to 30 to 40 per cent.
"Sohail will also share his experience in other aspects of the game. We want the national juniors and seniors to learn and absorb all they can from Sohail.
"We have an important assignment next year, that is the Asia Cup (venue and dates yet to be finalised) which is the qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup.
"Sohail will start his work from tomorrow and he will be going to Johor to watch Razak Cup matches."
Three-time Olympian Sohail, who has coached various clubs in the Netherlands and Germany, said he is happy to work in Malaysia, which he considers his second home.
The legend from Karachi said: "I have good memories playing for BSN in the Malaysia League and I also won the Asia Cup in KL.
"I want to help Malaysian teams improve their penalty corner conversion rate."