FITRI SAARI DROPPED - INSANE DECISION WITHOUT VALID REASON

Abstract from The Star - https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/hockey/2020/11/01/fitri-shocked-but-not-broken

“For me, I’m a little shocked. The coach said he doesn’t see much of my hard work and feels that my attitude is not a good example for the younger players, ” said Fitri.

When pressed on what he meant by his attitude, he said: “I guess it is my body language. I’m a quiet person and not imposing. So I guess I have to change my demeanour.

“I guess, I have to be more imposing and allow my hockey to do the talking. I will learn to communicate more with the players.

“I’ll be back. I will give my all in next year’s Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) and prove that I still deserve a spot.

“It’s not that I am not hardworking, but it is my appearance that gives that outlook. I will change that for sure because I want to play for the nation again.”

Meanwhile, Arul said at the moment, Fitri has failed to convince him.

“For now, he is not in my plan. If he shows his capability in the MHL, for sure I will consider him, ” he said.

My Comments:

Answer – I disagree to drop Fitri Saari just like that…

It doesn’t make sense as you retain 4 injured players among them are Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Ahmad Jalil, Shahril Saabah, Mohd Haziq Samsul, Mohd Amirol Aideed Mohd Arshad and Mohd Hafiz Zainol.

Fisrtly, no Coaches has selected a big group of players of 36 for national team. This is a High Performance Team and not a Kem Bakat or Development Team.

Then you reduced to 30 without Fitri Saari and favouring 4 injured players and 4 uncapped players.

Hello – the 4 injured players shouldn’t be considered in camp and put them into rehabilitation phase and join in upon recovery and with that you could still include Fitri Saari into camp.

I didn’t know that nowadays that “a player is dropped due to his quietness”. Unbelievable reasoning.

When you dropped a seasoned senior player like Fitri Saari, the reason must be a valid one. You telling me that the 4 injured players & 4 uncapped players are better than Fitri.

If Fitri has a fitness or morale problem, any Coach will manage him well by giving him till January with special program and attention to uplift him to his usual best performance. Dropping him and telling him door is still open after MHL, is a total bullshit as you kill his morale and motivation of a calibre player like Fitri and many others. Even you are not sure when MHL will be held.

Fitri Saari is a complete international player that possess high technical skills and contribute well to any team. And Faizal Saari, the forward plays well and get key passes from his brother Fitri. And with removing Fitri, indirectly you kill Faizal Saari performance too as Fitri is the main feeder to Faizal.

You have been a player before but looks like your approach is wrong or there may be a third hand instruction as Fitri was very vocal in post mortem and blamed him for missing PS.

And there is a strong rumour going around that you’re playing a favoritism and parent involvement in selection of players. Hope it is not true and knowing you before, you may have changed in your principle and integrity in life due to survival. Hope not?

More so, your main challenge is 2021 Asia Cup & 2022 Asian Games, you have time to keep Fitri Saari in team till at least till end of January and not just dropping him like this without any valid reason and your reason is a very subjective one which raised many questions within the hockey fraternity.

This kind of decision shows & reflects the quality in you. Honestly, you need to buck up...

You next challenge would be reducing to the team to 22 or 24. We all will be watching it closely.

Anyway, you all are called the “Trio of 2016” that would save Malaysian Hockey!

P/S- Firduas Omar of Melaka is not selected in National Camp? Why?

FIH Hockey World Cups – M & W Junior World Cup & Senior M & W World Cup & Qualification Process

Before Paris 2024 Olympics, there will be two Junior World Cup cycle and one Senior World Cup cycle. As for Junior World Cup it will be held in 2021 and 2023 and Senior World Cup in 2022 for Women & 2023 for Men.

Let me explain the allocation of slots, when is the Continental Championship, who have qualified, who is hosting it and Qualification process for both World Cups i.e. Junior & Senior.

Will start with Junior World Cup...

2021 Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup

The 2021 Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup will be the 12th edition of the Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, the biennial men's under-21 field hockey world championship organized by the International Hockey Federation. It will be held in India in late 2021 with the venue(s) and exact dates yet to be confirmed.

The hosts India are the defending champions.

Qualification Process

A total of 16 teams will qualify for the final tournament. In addition to India who qualified automatically as hosts, 15 other teams will qualify from five separate continental competitions.

Dates	Event	Location	Quotas	Qualifier(s)
15–21 July 2019	2019 Euro Hockey Junior Championship	Valencia, Spain	6	Belgium England France Germany Netherlands Spain
17 February 2020	Host	N/A	1	India
2020	2020 Junior Oceania Cup	TBD	2
Postponed	2021 Junior Asia Cup	Dhaka, Bangladesh	3
22–28 March 2021	2021 Junior Africa Cup	Accra, Ghana	2
12–25 April 2021	2021 Junior Pan American Championship	Santiago, Chile	2
Total			16

2021 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup

The 2021 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup will be the ninth edition of the Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, the biennial women's under-21 field hockey world championship organized by the International Hockey Federation. It will be held in Potchefstroom, South Africa in late 2021 with the exact dates yet to be confirmed. Argentina are the defending champions.

Qualification Process

A total of 16 teams will qualify for the final tournament. In addition to South Africa, who qualified automatically as hosts, 15 other teams will qualify from five separate continental competitions.

Dates	Event	Location	Quotas	Qualifier(s)
13–21 July 2019	2019 EuroHockey Junior Championship	Valencia, Spain	6	Belgium England Germany Netherlands Russia Spain
17 February 2020	Host	N/A	1	South Africa
2020	2020 Junior Oceania Cup	TBD	2
22–28 March 2021	2021 Junior Africa Cup	Accra, Ghana	1
11–17 April 2021	2021 Junior Asia Cup	Kakamigahara, Japan	3
12–25 April 2021	2021 Junior Pan American Championship	Santiago, Chile	3
Total			16

The next cycle for both Men & Women Junior World Cup will be held in 2023 and qualification may be held from 2022 onwards and the qualification process shall remain the same and host to be decided by FIH.

2022 Women's FIH Hockey World Cup

The 2022 Women's FIH Hockey World Cup will be the 15th edition of the Women's FIH Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for women's national field hockey teams organized by the International Hockey Federation. It will be held in Terrassa, Spain and Amstelveen, Netherlands from 1 to 17 July 2022.

Qualification Process

Just as in 2018, 16 teams will compete in the tournament. Alongside the hosts, Spain and the Netherlands, the five continental champions will receive an automatic berth. After the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics the quota of places available through continental championships including the World Cup hosts was increased from six to eleven and the quota of places available through the FIH qualification events was decreased to five.

Dates	Event	Location	Quotas	Qualifier(s)
8 November 2019	Hosts	N/A	2	Netherlands Spain
4–13 June 2021	2021 EuroHockey Championship	Amstelveen, Netherlands	2
October 2021	2021 Africa Cup of Nations	TBC	1
October/November 2021	2021 Pan American Cup	TBC	2
2021	2021 Asia Cup	TBC	2
2021	2021 Oceania Cup	TBC	2
March 2022	Play-offs	N/A	5
Total			16

2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup

The 2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup will be the 15th edition of the Men's FIH Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the International Hockey Federation. It will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and at the Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium in Rourkela in India from 13 to 29 January 2023.

Qualification Process

Just as in 2018, 16 teams will compete in the tournament. Alongside the hosts, India, the five continental champions will receive an automatic berth. After the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics the quota of places available through continental championships including the World Cup hosts was increased from six to eleven and the quota of places available through the FIH qualification events was decreased to five.

Dates	Event	Location	Quotas	Qualifier(s)
8 November 2019	Hosts	N/A	1	India
4–13 June 2021	2021 EuroHockey Championship	Amstelveen, Netherlands	4
October 2021	2021 Africa Cup of Nations	TBC	1
October/November 2021	2021 Pan American Cup	TBC	1
2021	2021 Asia Cup	TBC	2
2021	2021 Oceania Cup	TBC	2
March 2022	Play-offs	N/A	5
Total			16

 As for the next cycle for Men & Women World Cup will be held in 2026.

Hope the readers would get a clearer picture after reading the above details on the upcoming FIH Junior & Senior World Cups.

Have a great weekend with your loved ones...

What a Team must do to improve their World Rankings & Shortcomings of FIH Ranking Model...

How to Improve World Rankings & be in Top 10 in World Hockey?

Malaysian Hockey Team must:

- To win 2021 Asia Cup (has to beat India to get points and cannot afford to lose to other lower ranked teams like Pak, Korea, Japan & China) - anyway top 3 Target (with India) to qualify to 2023 World Cup in India

- To win 2022 Asian Games - qualify to 2024 Paris Olympics

- to play consistently at Olympics & World Cup & to finish as high as possible. At least second round at 2023 World Cup and Quarter Finals at Olympics and winning the 60 mins matches as SO gives less points.

- Early planning of official matches against above ranked teams is crucial - Performance Plan at least 4 years - min One Olympic Cycle.

- Organized more International Invitational Tournaments - must be more than 3 teams and invite higher ranked teams. Sultan Azlan Shah Cup must invite top 8 Teams in World and beating them would boost your rankings.

- At Asian Games/Asia Cup (not Qualifier and must be Continental Championship) level cannot afford to lose against lower ranked teams. 

- At WC/Olympic Qualifiers must be performing at best and qualifying to final rounds of play i.e. playoff of 2 matches home & away of aggregate score.

- Have to qualify to play in the main FIH Pro League thru the FIH Nation Cup.

Shortcomings of FIH New Ranking Model:

- No limit of matches per year for each team.

- When will the points reset again or it will be ongoing without resetting. Then the equitabilities will be wide between top teams that plays in Olympics, World Cup & FIH Pro League compare to teams outside these tournaments.

- No minimum participation points based on final standings for Olympic or World Cup and other events. If a team loses all matches, his points will be badly hit even though participated at the highest level of tournament.

- Many top teams may avoid playing lower ranked team.

- There will be an increase of unofficial matches without TMS to avoid rankings. Official test matches will reduce drastically.

- Coaches cannot use young players to be tested in Official Matches as the risk of losing points is greater.

- The Importance (1) bandwidth need to be tweaked as the levels of difference is high. Might be for Olympic and WC it should be at 8 rather than 10.

- No points for Junior Teams such as playing in Junior World Cup and Qualifiers. FIH must come with ranking points for Junior Teams too.

- There is confusion on Continental Level of Importance is divided to Championship & Qualifier - for Championship Level of Importance is 6 and Qualifier will be 3.

- The Nation with high income funding with unlimited cashflow will gain the most from this model. It means they could hold matches, tournaments, participate in invited tournaments and travel around to globe to collect points.

- If the difference in ranking points before the match is greater than 1000, then a maximum Weighting of 2 is applied if the lower ranked team wins, or 0 if the higher ranked team wins. In this situation the higher ranked team would not want to waste their resources and will avoid playing such matches. The lower ranked teams will suffer.

- As for Commonwealth Games - no level of Importance provided by FIH, which means the matches would not be considered as rankings. No TMS too...

Now comes the key question - Does the decision makers & Officials aware of the above details. Till today, there is no clear Performance Plan for National Teams till 2024 Paris Olympics. 

And next month, it will be a one year Anniversary and key Bearers been there for 6 years and more but still at learning curve and lack the knowledge to manage the sports effectively and efficiently.

Before saying Top 10 & Top 8 in World Hockey, get the basis right and be factual in any announcement.

P/S - Anyway, has they put a bid to AHF for next years Men's Asia Cup - which acts as the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers. As for Women no chance to play in World Cup. 

Next Article will write about the Qualification process for Men and Women to 2022/2023 World Cup.

Malaysian Road To Tokyo (RTT) Olympic Program - Thinking Inside the Bubble

In response to COVID-19, bubble is seeing new use in the realm of sports, referring to an isolated set of accommodations and venues in which athletes can reside and compete away from the general public.

Lately, bubble can be seen and heard in reference to an area within which competing sports teams stay isolated from the general public during a series of games that includes accommodations, amenities, and the location at which the games are held without spectators in attendance. 

This "bubble" was conceived as a way to safely resume playing team sports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our daily numbers are sky rocketing and vaccine requires years of research and testing before reaching clinic. As of today 46 vaccines in clinical trials with 6 approved for early or limited use and 0 for full use.

At the hotel or similar establishment in the bubble, team players, coaches, and staff, as well as league personnel, are provided with their own rooms. During their time off from games, practices, training, and meetings, they are allowed to enjoy amenities, while following prescribed safety regulations and practicing social distancing, on the premises of their temporary residence. 

They might also be permitted to go to designated places for recreation or relaxation off the premises, but within the "bubble."

With this new sense of bubble, another sense has emerged. In sports media, bubble is being used to refer to the series of scheduled games played or to be played between teams staying in a bubble.

Therefore, all stakeholders need to start planning this mode of Bubble Sports especially for the Road To Tokyo Program under the care of NSC so that the current 13 qualified athletes could compete and prepare well. More so this Bubble Program is essential for Athletes who still has a chance to qualify to Tokyo 2020.

Elusive Gold is still the target but with 8 months to Tokyo without high level of competitiveness & CMCO activated, for sure there is a direct impact in Athletes Performance Plan leading towards the games.

The way forward is establishing Bubble Sports Program domestically & International levels with creating additional Online Virtual Competition platform for Individual Sports such as Divers, Cycling, Archery, Sailing & Gymnastic. 

As for Badminton International & Domestic Bubble Program is the only choice as the players requires high quality sparring matches.

The drawbacks of bubbles, of course, are plain. They are difficult to organize, expensive to maintain and emotionally taxing on players, who cannot return to their homes for weeks or months at a time

As the numbers of COVID-19 is increasing daily in Malaysia and with Tokyo 2020 preparation is in time of essence, with that NSC with ISN should discuss this Sports Bubble Program for Road To Tokyo Program as soon as possible. 

As for the NSA's, it's time to discuss about this Sports Bubble Program at your Board and Committee levels or else your sports would not gain the loss of time due to this pandemic.

The sooner is better as till today we are still not sure about the availability of vaccine which would be the permanent cure to mankind over this pandemic. 

Therefore, Sports Bubble Program may exist at least one or two years till this pandemic ends. Start thinking outside the box. 

P/S - As for the Hockey Team, they should have changed their training base camp to Seremban, which is beyond the MKN restrictions of CMCO. And even Officials should be committed to be in camps with team.

Valid & Current Prevailing Issues faced by the Malaysian Women Hockey Team to obtain a World Class playing Hockey Nation

Based on my personal view, the following are the valid & current prevailing issues faced by the Malaysian Women Hockey Team to obtain a World Class playing hockey Nation:

- No proper Women Junior Teams planning for upcoming Junior World Cups. As for Jnr W Asia Cup next year, expected not to qualify for 2021 W Jnr World Cup due to bad & ad-hoc planning. This current Malaysian Jnr W Asia Cup team will face India, Korea & Japan with China Jnrs, the defending Champions returning to play after withdrawing due to Covid19 pandemic. The Malaysian Women Junior Team has to get top 3 to qualify next year’s 2021 Junior World Cup in South Africa.

- Next Junior World Cup cycle will be in 2023 and Qualifier will be in 2022/2023 and by today there should already a team i.e. Women Under 18 in active and undergoing a good Performance Plan but who cares...

- No National Women Hockey Development Plan from Grass-root till High Performance. Done on a piecemeal approach. National Women Development Team was abolished in March 2017 & convert few players to Indoor for Sea Games level.

- Lack the exposure of International Hockey at age group or Project Squads.

- Most young players bypass the Junior Team and plays directly with Senior Team and only then such players would get an International Matches and maturity will take a longer period of 4 to 6 years to be a Top player at International stage.

- Only 1 or 2 out of 16 Affiliates has a Women State League.

- Main Event TNBMHL for Women has limited 6 teams with 120 players to choose to form National Team. Insufficient talent and creates non competitiveness between players to don the National colors.

- Women Junior Hockey League made of Sukma Development Teams, State Sports School & one National Sports School. Total participation 9 teams.

- Women Tun Abdul Razak Cup premier event - Lack of interest from Affiliates and teams ill prepared without sufficient financial support.

- High Turnover of Withdrawals by Key Women National Players after marriages or birth of a child.

- No clear Pathway of Livelihood or Career. Currently, Women National players are selling online cakes, festive biscuits, scarfs etc, Since January NSC/MHC has no salary or allowance for National Women Hockey Players. Recently, national Women players started auctioning their playing attires to survive their livelihood.

- Delayed in Post-Mortem & Appointment of Coach for National Women Team has delayed their program and been inactive mode since June 2019. This approach has hinder the growth or progress of players. For sure many players has put on weight, lost interest, drastic drop in fitness/strength and all the 4 to 5 years of plan has gone to waste.

- The current Junior Women Asia Cup team lack the physical size to compete at International stage. There should be balance of sizes in a team. This would allow an advantage. Now China, Japan, India most their players has the physical abilities to compete with European teams.

- No continuity of National Age-Group Project Squads & Low Quality of Matches for preparation.

- Lack Talent Identification Plan through-out the Country. No key selectors at National or State Age-Group Championships.

- Lack of International High Performance & Development Women Coaches in Malaysia.

- Employment Opportunities – in this era, players need an academy qualification to obtain jobs security. No extra Tuition Classes held & weak in mastering English Language which is a must to communicate ie Video Referral Scenario, attending Tournament Meetings or any technical discussion with Foreign Consultants or Coach.

- Lack of Media Publicity Support for Women Hockey – Media is an important element to create awareness of gender equality, popularize the sports to next generation, in promotion & development from school to National level.

- No Policy or SOPs in MHC to create and operate electronic database. For Development, the training & tactical syllabus are not accessible electronically including latest modern hockey updates. For National Teams, integration of various reports – fitness, bio-medical, performance, mental strength & experience are not available for decision making.

- No dedicated electronic Database on Women Hockey such as Players, Coaches, Umpires & Officials.

- No proper support from Funding to Women Hockey Programs at all levels.

- Lack importance & effort by National & State Affiliates on Women Hockey

- No Clarity & Emphasis of Direction for Women Hockey

How to be Asia No 1 in 4-6 years time? First solve the above prevailing issues...

Next Article - What a Team must do to improve their World Rankings & Shortcomings of FIH Ranking Model...

MALAYSIAN WOMEN HOCKEY TEAM - BUILDING CASTLE IN THE SKY TO BE ASIA NO 1 & QUALIFY TO OLYMPICS

 

The image that was shown on Nadi Arena news few months ago. 

Abstract from Media Report - Bukan saya cakap tahu! "Shapawi had asked me, during the chat, why our team can't beat Japan, India, South Korea and China even though their women are of the same size as Malaysians?

"In the world rankings, India are ninth, followed by China (10th), Korea (12th) and Japan (13th).

"We need to target the Asian crown to be top 10 in the world."

Firstly, congratulations to MHC & NSC for coming up with a grandeur & ambitious plan for Malaysian Women Hockey without caring for consequences.

Unbelievable! Honestly, I am lost & do not know how they are doing to achieve this ambitious plan - Asia No 1 & play in Olympics?

Shoot from the Hip Scenario! This phrase originated in the old west of America, during the cowboy days. It alludes to shooting a gun from the hip, without taking it out if the holster. This made firing quicker, but less accurate.

Firstly let’s get the facts right and compare the circumstances and standings between the best 4 Women teams in Asia versus Malaysian Women Hockey Team. Will do a comparison at Asia Level & World level.

Asia Ranking

Currently, Malaysian Women Team is ranked 5th in Asia. The point’s difference varies from 479 to 735 points between the Top 4 teams-India, China, Korea, Japan and the gap is huge & wide to catch up. How are you going to achieve Asia No 1 with the huge difference in points? What facts used by you all to announce such ambitious plan? Clueless.

1. India - 1543

2. China - 1521

3. Korea - 1480

4. Japan - 1287

5. Malaysia - 808

World Ranking

How to overtake this top 4 Asian teams in World Hockey as these 3 teams ie India, Japan, India & China are consistently playing in Olympics & World Cups. Currently, Korea Women Hockey Team didn't qualify for Tokyo Olympics but been in the 2018 World Cup & 2016 Rio Olympics.

More so, China who plays in FIH Women PRO League 2020/21 & this 3 Top Asian Teams has qualified to Tokyo Olympics. This 4 Asian Teams has bigger advantage and will collect many more ranking points compare to Malaysia. 

As to improve your rankings based on new FIH World Ranking System, a team has to play as many matches/tournaments and beat the above ranked teams and not losing against a lower ranked teams to enable to gain ranking points.

By looking at Malaysian Women Hockey Calendar, the team only plays at SEA Games (Indoor), Asian Games/Asia Cup/Asian Champions Trophy & some arranged tours/tournaments or test matches.

This shows that this Top 4 Asian teams gap of points will be very wide over the years to come compare to Malaysian Women Hockey, which currently has not played any International matches since World Series in June 2019 and no proper Periodization Plan for coming years. Been for than a year in inactive status.

How & what is the basis used by MHC to announce that Malaysian Women Hockey Team will be Asia No.1 & play in Olympics in years to come - 8 years . It can be achieved but this has to happen - Japan, India, China & Korea to completely stop playing hockey for 4-6 years and do not participate in any FIH Tournaments. Does this make sense? Reality Bites.

As for Malaysian Women Hockey Team to improve their rankings is going to be very difficult as they only participate few events such as Asian Games, Asia Cups and WC/Olympics Qualifiers.

In Malaysia, we don't have any International Invitational Women Tournament. Only hope for one-off test matches but is very rare for top European Teams or Oceania teams will invite our Women team to play. The best bet is to play against India, China, Japan and Korean teams but you be must be aware that a defeat will reduce your points.

Malaysian Women team must keep close on teams like France, Belarus, Czechoslovakia & Scotland and be vary of their plan of matches. These four teams are trait and they may surpass our rankings.

R W I is Key to improve your World Rankings.

To improve rankings, a team must maximize the R W I intelligently. Therefore, the bearers must understand and comprehend this Model which would them to plan accordingly and not shooting from the hips and announcing flip-flop statements.

Malaysian Hockey is very good at building castles in the air. Meaning: To make plans that have very little chance of happening & keeps talking about big-time ambitions, but it's all castles in the air. 

Firstly, accept reality with facts. Life is like the rungs on a ladder. The reason they are placed so close together is that we can learn to take baby steps and reach our destinations safely and not act recklessly, without considering the effects.

Next Article – Prevailing Issues that hindering Malaysian Women Hockey Team to be a World Class…

Malaysian Men Hockey Team – Impact on new Algorithm FIH World Ranking Points & Other Matters:

Dear Readers, many announcement and bengkels (lost count) are held without valid & clear direction of National Teams. They also said they need more time & patience to be a world class team but saying otherwise such as winning Gold at 2022 Asian Games and qualifying to Paris 2024 and Women Team to be Asia No 1 in 2026. 

But you all have been there for 6 years since 2015 and still at learning curve, unbelievable and you still asking for more time. You are helming a High Performance Sports and main objective is to bring glory to Malaysia.

The strange part that leaves many questions is - What is the Performance Plan of Men & Women National Teams? How the Teams will achieve its target and be Top 10 in World Hockey as previously said we will be top 8 in 2018 and recently said in 2 year’s we will be Top 10 for Men and Asia No 1 for Women. 

Great Announcements but what is the basis or plan that you all have set to achieve the targets. As usual putting the cart before the horse style of management without knowing the real details of International Hockey.

Just to clarify matters, first let’s understand the new FIH World Ranking and observing the matters on World Hockey. Will divide into 2 segments – Men & Women and today will cover the implications for Men and will write for Women next when time permits.

To be honest – our current Performance plan is weak and late in making short, mid & long term detail plans.

Malaysian Men Hockey Team – Impact on new Algorithm FIH World Ranking Points & Other Matters:

Firstly, you have to look at the Event Importance (I), which indicates Importance and numbers given based on level of competition. Bottom line Malaysian Team have to play in Olympics & World Cup as both events give 10 for I. This is where Malaysian team will lose out in world ranking points as we are not playing in Tokyo Olympics and also by non-participation in FIH Pro League the Importance of 5, Malaysian will not get any points and the 9 Pro League teams gap will be widen.

And as for teams like Japan, Canada & South Africa will get many points as playing in Tokyo Olympics that gives importance of 10. If this 3 teams makes to the QF stage and beyond than their points will get closer with Malaysia points and Canada who is ranked 10th will collect more points and it will be tough for Malaysia to break top 10. More so, this 4 teams will be playing as many matches as possible in their preparation towards next year's Olympic Games.

As for Asian Games & Asia Cup Competition (not Qualifier Continental), the Importance given is 6. No allocation of Importance points at Sea Games outdoor level but with more than 3 teams then Importance of 2 or one off Test Match Importance of 1 will be considered.

Only important tournament for Malaysia will be the 2021 Men's Asia Cup as it gives 3 slots to 2023 World Cup in India and the level of importance is at 6. Overall Malaysia Men's team will be revolving by playing matches at Importance level from 1-6 the max.

Malaysia have to be worried for France who drastically improved their rankings from 17 to 11 now. Difference of points only 100, and if France periodization plan and play many tournaments than they may surpass us. And they are rebuilding and in preparation towards 2024 Paris Olympics.

My Question, with FIH Pro League & Tokyo Olympics postponed to next year, how Malaysia team is going to play official test matches with top 9 ranked teams in the World as their schedule is fully booked with events.

As for Sultan Azlan Shah event, the importance will be of 2. It means that the Top Teams playing in Tokyo Olympics & FIH Pro League will be well ahead than Malaysia.

And the delay of FIH Nation Cup, for sure it will dampen further the ranking points for Malaysian team.

The most important assignment will be the 2021 Men's Asia Cup which acts as qualifier to 2023 World Cup where 3 slots given with host India. This event importance will be at level 6. Malaysia need to perform in this tournament to sustain a better ranking points.

Let’s make an assumption:

Next year competition is Asian Champions Trophy, the importance will be 2. Then Malaysia plays in next year Sultan Azlan Shah & 2021 Men's Asia Cup (recognized as Qualifier Event) which is also importance of 2 and may play in 4 Nations or few one off test matches that provides Importance of 2 & 1. Technically, Malaysian ranking will be affected as Malaysia will only be playing at events at Importance of 2-6 and below.

Whereas, teams like Australia Belgium, Argentina, England/GB, India, Germany, Holland , Spain & New Zealand will be playing in Tokyo Olympics (Importance of 10) and FIH Pro League (Importance of 5) which is higher than Malaysian team which plays the events next year at highest Importance level of 2. The gap will be widen for sure based on the Algorithm model.

Currently, Malaysia is ranked second in Asia, it means at 2022 Asian Games level (Importance of 6), Malaysia will only get greater points if they beat India as they ranked 5th in World and cannot afford to lose to teams like Pakistan, Korea, Japan and China as they will gain more points from Malaysia.

Another pertinent point is winning a match gets greater points than winning a shootout which R is = match result (10 for a win, 5 for a shootout win, 1 for a draw).

The 3 i.e R*W*I is very importance in this model Result X Weighting X Importance. Therefore, the periodization of the National Teams must be planned vigilantly taking into the consideration of this RWI.

It shows that today till Asian Games in Hangzhou 2022, Malaysia could only be able to play matches of Importance of 2 i.e. Sultan Azlan Shah, Asian Champions Trophy, Asia Cup (Qualifier), test matches and invitational tournaments more than 3 teams.

Only at 2022 Asian Games & 2023 WC/2023 FIH Olympic Qualifier the importance changes to level 6. Then Malaysia needs to qualify to 2023 WC in India and need to qualify to second round (not as 2018 WC exit after first round) as you will get to play more matches and wins will give you greater points.

Looking at above details of facts, doubt the future is good for Malaysian Men’s Team unless better methodology or thinking out of box discussion and decision are made.

This is a critical predicaments but nobody is addressing this obstacles that would hinder our progress in World Hockey.

Good Luck and writing to allow hockey fraternity be well verse with the journey rather than listening all the “wayang kulit” announcements. And hope people in-charged of National Teams realize this issues and for sure they are lost or do not understand this algorithm system. Anyway, just call for tea and will give free tuition.

Reality bites and great weekend folks…

Next will be on Malaysian Women Team.

P/S - As for Commonwealth Games, there is no level of Importance given in the rankings.