KUALA LUMPUR – National hockey head coach Sarjit Singh believes that having Mohamad Sukri Abdul Mutalib as an assistant coach will be an advantage to the national set-up.
Yesterday, Scoop quoted a source who said Sarjit’s coaching set-up will be made up of former national players.
Two of former coach Arul Selvaraj’s coaching staff members have been retained – Azrul Effendy Bistamam as an assistant and S. Kumar will remain as the goalkeeping coach.
Sarjit said that Sukri’s knowledge of junior players will be invaluable to the national team.
“We need him (Sukri) because he is a teacher in a sports school.
“So he knows the junior players better than anyone else, so that is the advantage we will have,” said the 61-year-old.
Sukri made his international debut against China in 2003 and went on to make over 200 appearances for the Speedy Tigers.
He is a two-time Sultan Azlan Shah silver medal winner and also won silver at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
Meanwhile, Sarjit announced a total of 46 players to be called up to a selection camp, which will be held from March 19 to 31.
These 46 players will be whittled down to 30 on April 1 to focus on preparation for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and Nations Cup tournaments in May.
Out of the 46 players, only six are above 29 years of age, 18 are in the 22 to 25 age bracket, 14 are under the age of 21 and eight are in the 26 to 28 range. – March 12, 2024