KUALA LUMPUR – The national men’s and women’s hockey five-a-side teams will compete in the inaugural Hockey5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman from January 24-31 next year.
Malaysian Hockey Confederation president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal, who announced this, said both teams qualified after competing in the tournament’s qualifiers, which ended in September.
“The World Cup will be held from January 24-27 for the women’s teams and January 28-31 for the men’s teams. The men’s team are in Group D with Oman, the United States and Fiji.
“The women’s squad, meanwhile, have been drawn in Group A with Oman, Fiji and the Netherlands,” he told a media conference to introduce the sponsors for the national team at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil here recently.
Only the top three teams from the qualifiers advanced to the World Cup, with the national men’s team, who finished fourth, making the tournament as replacements for Oman, who qualified as hosts, and the national women’s team qualified when they finished third after losing 9-5 to India in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, national Hockey5s team manager Sukri Mutalib said the players have been given a week’s break and will resume training next week in Bukit Jalil.
“We will select eight players and two goalkeepers in mid-January,” he said, adding that they have not set any targets for both the men’s and women’s teams to avoid putting any pressure on the players. – December 17, 2023