National team have no hope of making World Hockey League Finals

KUALA LUMPUR: The national men’s team can forget about making the World Hockey League Finals.

This is because all the four teams who made the last four in the second World Hockey League Semi- Finals in Johannesburg are ranked higher than Malaysia.

The eight teams who have qualified for the Finals – to be held in Bhubaneswar, India, from Dec 1-10 – are India, Holland, England, Argentina, Germany, Australia, Spain and Belgium.

These eight teams, along with Malaysia and Canada, have also confirmed their berths in next year’s World Cup, which will be held at the same venue in India.

National skipper Mohd Shukri Mutalib said he knew that their chances were slim after finishing fourth in the World Hockey League Semi-Finals in London last month.

“It’s not a surprise (not qualifying for the World Hockey League Finals). Our chances were slim to start with as only a lower- ranked team finishing fourth would have given us a chance. As it turned out, all the four semi-finalists in Johannesburg are higher ranked than us,” he said.

The national men’s hockey team are preparing for next month’s KL SEA Games.

Coach Stephen van Huizen has made it clear that he will field the strongest side to ensure they retain the gold medal.

The other teams competing are Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar.

The men’s team will also compete in the Asia Cup, which is a World Cup qualifier, in Dhaka from Oct 11-22.

The teams competing are India, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Japan, Bangladesh and Oman.