Now Malaysia also eyes Paris Olympic gold in hockey

After India, another Asian nation that has set its eyes on Paris Olympic games hockey gold is Malaysia.

Malaysia had finished joint 13^th in the last World Cup held in India in January this year. Currently, the Malaysians are ranked 10^th in the FIH (International Hockey Federation) list.

The Asian Games in Hangzhou will be crucial for both India and Malaysia besides other major hockey playing nations of the continent. The winner of the Asian Games hockey gold medal will directly qualify for the Paris Olympic games. Others may have to play in Olympic qualifiers for a berth in the 2024 Games.

Besides India and Malaysia, other Asian teams in the running for Paris Olympic Games will be Japan, Korea, China and Pakistan.

Since Malaysia is still looking for its first Olympic gold medal, it has launched a massive Road to Gold programme under which the players or teams that can fetch the country its first Olympic gold are identified and funded lavishly.

After the 2023 World Cup in India, where Malaysia lost its last qualification match to South Africa, hockey has been the surprise inclusion in the road to gold programme.

The Road to Gold  multi-million project, mooted by the  Malaysian Youth and Sports Ministry, was launched to provide the nation’s finest athletes with a comprehensive support service in a bid to win Malaysia’s first-ever Olympic gold.

Although the Malaysian men’s field hockey side are currently ranked 10th in the world, not many in hockey circles  think that it is anywhere near being considered as gold medal prospects for the Paris Olympics.

Incidentally, the last time Malaysia qualified for the Olympic Games was in 2000. Since then, it has failed to play in the Games. Called Speedy Tigers, they had their best chance in the 2018 Asian Games when they were leading the ultimate champions, Japan, in the semi-finals. However, Japan came back to draw the game and win the penalty shootout to qualify for the final and went on to win its maiden Asian Games title.

Malaysia faces an uphill task in the coming Asian Games as it will have to win the Asian Games title to directly qualify for the Paris Games. The Malaysian government has promised all possible help to the team to prepare itself for the Hangzhou glory.

Interestingly, under the Road to Glory Programme, Malaysian hockey will stay in the programme only if it wins the Asian Games crown. Otherwise it will be dropped from the programme for the rest of the time till the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

 Under the RTG programme the  selected athletes receive a monthly allowance of RM3,000 each.

Prabhjot Singh