KUALA LUMPUR: By the end of this month, Malaysian hockey fans will know who will take over the underperforming national men's team.
A total of 23 candidates — five locals and 18 foreigners — have applied for the chief coach's post.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) will have a meeting tomorrow to shortlist five candidates for interviews.
MHC Coaching Committee chairman Datuk Majid Manjit Abdullah said they will go through all the 23 candidates' CVs tomorrow.
"We will shortlist five coaches, local and foreign, for interviews as we want to be fair.
"For local candidates, it will not be a problem to interview them in person. But for foreigners, it will be difficult for them to travel to Malaysia, we will set a date to interview them through Zoom.
"Once we finalise the candidate, we will submit his name to the MHC executive board, who will endorse the head coach.
"We will name the head coach by Feb 29," said Manjit.
MHC is looking for a new head coach to revive the Speedy Tigers after a series of poor results.
The head coach will also be tasked to help Malaysia qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Malaysia have not featured in the Olympics since Sydney in 2000.
A. Arul Selvaraj, whose team finished a disappointing sixth in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year and fifth in the Olympic Qualifier in Muscat, Oman, last month, has reapplied for the coaching job.
Former national coaches, Sarjit Singh and K. Dharmaraj, who have also applied, may be shortlisted for interviews.
Dharmaraj is currently a technical director with the Indonesian national team, but he can give one month's notice to leave his job.