By Asia Samachar | Malaysia |
Olympian and former national hockey captain Sarjit Singh is taking up the job as the head coach of Malaysia’s national senior men’s hockey team for the second time.
On March 3, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) said the former international will replace Arul Selvaraj whose contract expired after the Olympic Qualifiers in Muscat, Oman in January 2024, which saw Malaysia failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The new coach has a huge challenge ahead for a team that has failed to qualify to the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games.
Sarjit himself played in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. With more than 200 caps, he had captained the national team from 1987-1993.
Sarjit, who turns 62 this year, has been given a two-year contract, with his first assignment being the Sultan Azlan Shah Trophy taking place from May 4-11 in Ipoh. This will be followed by the Nations Cup in Gniezno, Poland (May 31- June 9) and Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia (Sept 8-17).
Sarjit helmed the national team from January 2007 to December 2008, during which he displayed an astounding ability as a centre-half, arguably the best in Malaysian hockey.
On the coaching front, he was the national junior coach from 2004 to 2006 and national senior coach from 2007 to 2008.
MHC president Subahan Kamal told the media that it had not imposed any Key Performance Index (KPI) on Sarjit at this juncture, but added that his main goal was to help Malaysia win a gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya to qualify for the 2028 LA Olympics.
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