Malaysia should take home ground advantage – Oltmans

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must win the first FIH Hockey Series Finals to be held from April 26-May 4 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil here, in order to boost their spirit to qualify for the next round of qualifying events of 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

National men's hockey squad head coach, Roelant Oltmans said the players should take advantage of playing on own turf to score positive results in the tournament.

The 64-year-old Dutchman revealed that world ranked 10th team, Canada, and world number 14th team, China, would be the main threats for Malaysia to secure the place in the next round of qualifying events.

“It is important for us to finish as high as we can to avoid playing against higher ranked teams, such as England, Spain or New Zealand in the next round.

“We have to wait until September to know which opponent we would meet should we finished among the top two teams in the Kuala Lumpur meet,” he told a press conference at the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) headquarters in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

In this regard, Oltmans said all 28 players were very excited to play in the tournament, adding that the final list of players would be decided on April 19.

“We would play one warm-up match prior to the tournament,” he added.

Meanwhile, MHC president, Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal urged all Malaysian hockey fans to flock into the national stadium to give undivided support to the national side.

“We have to show to the people that we can perform well in this tournament, and I with other MHC's exco members would be with the players all the time to make sure they would give their best and get a good result in this tournament,” Subahan added.