KUALA LUMPUR: National coach Stephen Van Huizen has taken up Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal and Datuk S. Shamala’s challenge to win the Asian Games gold medal.
Subahan, the president of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation, and Shamala, his deputy, both stated recently that they will quit if the men’s team fail to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The gold medallist at the Asian Games will earn an Olympic spot. The other route for Olympic qualification is through the Hockey World Series, which ends in October next year.
Van Huizen said his boys will be free from any pressure in pursuit of realising their dream of playing in the Olympics.
“We have been training for a long time in the aim to win the Asian Games title and also to qualify for the Olympics. The challenge thrown by Subahan and Shamala does not change anything or add any pressure.
"They made the challenge because they have faith in my team, and we will give our best to achieve the target,” said Van Huizen.
Malaysia are in Group B with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Oman, Kazakhstan and Thailand.
Former world champions Pakistan are Malaysia’s main rivals in their goal to top the group for an easier route to play in the gold medal match at the Asian Games.
If Malaysia finish second in their pool, they will likely face defending champions India, who are favourites in Group A, in the semi-finals