Women’s team to train in the wee hours during Ramadan

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian women’s hockey team will do whatever it takes to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Even if it means missing precious time with their loved ones for Hari Raya Aidilfitri and training from 3am to 4.30am.

Coach K. Dharmaraj said during the month of Ramadan, they have to change their training times and they will have double sessions to prepare for the FIH Series Finals at the Banbridge Hockey Club in Ireland.

“We will be training from 9pm to 11pm and then 3am to 4.30am. This is some of the sacrifices we have to make,” said the former national junior coach.

“I’ve done this before and this would augur well for our preparations. The girls will also be playing during the Hari Raya festival.

“It is not easy to train in the wee hours but we need to work hard because we will be facing really tough opponents.

“We don’t care about our ranking (world No. 22) because we only want to give our best.

“Hopefully, a miracle can happen when we are in Ireland.”

The FIH Series Finals is the qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics.

Malaysia are drawn in Group A with the Czech Republic, Singapore and hosts Ireland in the eightteam competition.

South Korea, Scotland, Ukraine and France are drawn in Group B.

The team will leave for Europe on May 24 to play two matches each against Italy Spain as part of their preparations for the World Series.

Dharmaraj said there is a gap in between the final test match against Spain and the tournament, so they will look to play a series of games against Scotland in Glasgow.

“We are facing higher ranked opponents, but we have nothing to lose,” said Dharmaraj.

“I believe the series of friendly matches in Europe will help us in the FIH Series Finals and get to the Olympic qualification. We hope to finish in the top two in the tournament.”