The players were crying to be heard

They spoke from the heart and nailed some problems squarely on the head.”

THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) conducted a post-mortem on the London Olympic failure on Tuesday, and this scribe was invited to be a panellist.

Having no idea of the others who will make up the panel, it was a pleasant surprise to meet the who’s who of the Malaysian sports circle.

But it must have been an uneasy experience for the men and women’s hockey players who were called up.

A burly policeman in full uniform, a silently observing man in a suit from the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission, MHC top guns, a legendary athlete turned psychologist, a former national junior coach, a three-time Olympian... the list was impressive.

The panellists sat in a circle facing their subjects, who walked into the room one at a time.

Ladies first was the only politeness shown to them, but none of the hockey players clammed up as they answered the questions.

Even though some choked up and cried, it was not out of fear but out of love for the sport.

A box of tissue made its entry for the women, while one male had to excuse himself and went out for a few minutes to calm himself.

Again, it was not because they were being harassed or threatened.

They shed their tears while explaining what happened or what should have been done.

The women were passed off in a fast and furious manner because they were a ‘success’ story and were never expected to qualify but to give their best in the Olympic qualifier.

Everybody was more interested in why the men’s team failed in the Asian Games final, the FIH Series final and the hammering by Britain in chilly London.

The string of failures came even though they were provided with everything, except their underwear.

This scribe was expecting the men to clam up as they normally do when interviewed after a match, but all of them proved me wrong.

They spoke from the heart and nailed some problems squarely on the head.

So, the critics who called it a shambolic post-mortem on social media will be proven wrong soon.

MHC are serious about their next four-year plan, and they will talk to the coaches next to find out the other side of the sob story in London.

If only the men could play as well as they spoke.