NEW MAN AT THE HELM

Oltmans replaces van Huizen as national coach

NEWLY-APPOINTED national men’s coach Roelant Oltmans admitted that he faces a tough task in ensuring his team make it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics through the qualifying tournaments next year.

Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) confirmed Dutchborn Oltmans’ appointment, replacing Stephen van Huizen, in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

“I wouldn’t be here if it was easy to qualify (for the Olympics),” said the 64-year-old, who guided the Netherlands to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic and 1998 Utrecht World Cup crowns.

“It will not be easy as the qualifying process finalised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is very complicated.

“However, we need to work hard to achieve the targets, starting with next month’s World Cup in India.

“If the team can play well and pick up points to improve their ranking in the World Cup, then we will get a better draw for the qualifiers.

“We cannot afford not to play well at the World Cup. All the players need to be aware of the importance of doing well and achieving targets.”

As for van Huizen, the former international have been re-designated as assistant coach-cumteam manager.

Oltmans’ last coaching stint was with Pakistan which lasted from January to September this year.

It is learnt that the Malaysian officials had approached Oltmans when he was in Jakarta with the Pakistan team for the Asian Games in August.

“Why did I pick Malaysia? I came here because of many reasons.

“One of them is because this was the third time I had received an offer from Malaysia, and everything fell into place this time.

“I told myself that I just needed to do this for Malaysia.

“I have had discussions and also looked into other matters. I believe I can work with the current situation and system here,” added Oltmans, who also had offers from several other countries.

The Olympic qualifying process starts with the Men’s Series Finals in Bukit Jalil on April 23-May 1 next year.