Dharmaraj’s gamble with youth pays off

women’s coach K. Dharmaraj took a gamble by fielding young players for the recent Hockey Series Open in Singapore and the move paid dividends when they won the tournament.

Not many coaches would have gambled with a 14-year-old and two 17-year-olds, but Dharmaraj decided on it as he wanted to expose them.

Malaysia not only won gold, but also went on a scoring spree in all six matches, including the 6-0 hammering of Thailand, where the youngest player in the squad Kirandeep Kaur scored her first international goal.

“A day before the final, I told Kirandeep that even though she had yet to find her touch after five matches, she should not be too stressed out and she delivered,” said Dharmaraj.

Admitting that this tournament did not challenge his players, Dharmaraj said it was still a morale booster ahead of the Asian Games in Jakarta.

“We scored 51 goals in six matches, but missed just as many.

“We will head to Queensland later this month for friendly matches,” he added.

Former international Maninderjit Singh though said it is difficult to progress by playing weaker sides.

“The women’s team have shown regional progress and justified their ranking by winning the gold in Singapore.

“However, it will be very difficult for them in the Asian Games as teams like India, China and Japan are in Europe for playing tours.

“I believe Malaysia need to have a better plan and not just look towards playing club sides in Australia to improve,” he said.