Tuesday November 3, 2009
Malaysians train under unfamiliar conditions
By S. RAMAGURU
KUALA LUMPUR: Cold windy conditions greeted the national hockey team when they held their first two training sessions at the ILT Hockey Turf in Invercargill yesterday.
The expected cold weather aside, the team for the World Cup qualifying tournament beginning on Saturday were satisfied with the condition of the pitch, which allows for good hockey.
Stand-in-manager M. Gobinathan said yesterday that the journey to Invercargill had been a long one and they needed almost 18 hours to reach the destination.
“We are the first team to arrive at the venue (of competition). Even hosts New Zealand are not here yet as they are playing friendly matches in other locations,” he said.
“The sun was out but we felt the chill due to the heavy winds. It would be okay but for the winds. We will continue to hold two training sessions daily over the next four days. We are also looking at having our sessions at the same time as the match schedule.”
The training sessions yesterday was held at 8am (local time, 4am Malaysian time) and 5.30pm.
Malaysia will play against Austria in their first match on Saturday (4pm). Their other matches are against Wales (Sunday), New Zealand (Nov 10), Scotland (Nov 12) and China (Nov 14). Only the match against New Zealand will begin at 6pm.
The final is slated for Nov 15. Only the winners of the tournament qualify for the Finals in New Delhi next year.
Gobinathan added that food was not a problem for the team.
“We are staying at a motel and there are cooking facilities. The National Sports Council (NSC) have sent two cooks with the team. The players are happy with the arrangement. It’s still early days and we hope that the players will adapt quickly to the conditions.”
Gobinathan said that the priority of the team at the moment was to concentrate on the task to make the final.
“I think we need to keep our focus and take one match at a time,” he said.
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