Haziq hopes to impress coach Oltmans for World Cup spot

KUALA LUMPUR: It is the dream of every hockey player to feature in the World Cup.

And 24-year-old forward Muhd Haziq Samsul (pic) is keeping his fingers crossed that he will be selected by national coach Roelant Oltmans for the Nov 28-Dec 16 World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India.

The Trolak-born Haziq did not feature in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, in April and also in the Asian Games in Jakarta in August as he was recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games last year.

But Haziq featured for Malaysia in the four-nation tournament in Darwin, Australia in September and he scored three goals to help Malaysia finished third in the tournament.

Haziq was not included in the recent Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat, Oman, where Malaysia finished third.

Haziq said that he would return to the national training camp next week and hoped to impress the Dutch coach.

“I have about three weeks to prove to the national coach that I have the ability to play in the World Cup,” said Haziq.

“I have played close to 100 times for Malaysia and has proven myself in the four-nation tournament in Darwin by scoring the most number of goals for Malaysia.”

Haziq, however, will face a strong challenge from the other forwards like Faizal Saari, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil, Muhd Shahril Saabah, Muhd Firhan Ashaari, Muhd Nik Aiman Nik Rozemi and Mohd Ramadan Rosli to win a place in the World Cup squad.

For the World Cup, Malaysia are drawn in Group D with Holland, Germany and Pakistan.

Haziq, who is playing for Perak in the Razak Cup, said that he wants to help his state to retain the title in the oldest hockey tournament in Malaysia.

The silver state have secured a place in the final with one match in hand. They have 10 points from three wins and a draw and will wrap up the round-robin fixtures against Johor today.