KUALA LUMPUR: National hockey chief coach Stephen van Huizen is a third generation Olympian, and he now has the challenge to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Timesport speaks to van Huizen ahead of the World League Semi-finals on June 15-25
Question: Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal had said during the recent AGM that he will quit his post if the team fail to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Are your players ready to respond to his challenge?
Answer: We are ready to accept the challenge from our president as preparations have been going smoothly since the World League Round Two in Dhaka.
After becoming champions in Bangladesh, even though we struggled against China in the final, I believe the players will not want to miss a chance to play in the World Cup.
Many of the players are in the late stages of their playing careers, and this could probably be their last chance to play in a World Cup and they do not want to miss the opportunity.
Q: What was the reason for Subahan to be so confident of the team?
A:His confidence probably stemmed from the fact that the progress report has been good on the team, and also, we need to finish top-six and maybe even the seventh spot could take Malaysia into the World Cup.
I believe his challenge has not placed us in a tight spot, or jammed our backs against the wall as we are up to it. The announcement did not add any pressure on the team, instead, it has made our resolution to qualify much higher.
We accept the challenge in good faith.
Q: Malaysia will be playing in the World League Semi-finals in London in less than a month’s time. Enough time to rectify some of the problems encounters in Round Two in Dhaka?
A: We did not have the best for Dhaka. For example, our number one goalkeeper (S.) Kumar could not make it due to family commitments, while some had weddings and other matters to attend.
It is always different when some of the dependables are not around and others fill in the gap. Kumar’s presence in the London qualifier will give everybody added confidence, and with a full squad of the best available, most of our problems are over.
Q: Penalty corners have always been Malaysia’s strength from the days when you were playing hockey. But in the World League Round Two in Dhaka and Azlan Shah Cup, even though the team won more than six penalty corners in a match, the scoring rate was very low. What is the main problem?
A: It’s not just our four flickers. A penalty corner needs a good push out, good stop, and only then can the flicker make his move. We analysed the problems faced in the Azlan Shah Cup where we won 31 penalty corners but only scored three, four if you count the one which was turned into a penalty stroke.
And the findings showed that every team in the tournament had equally huge numbers of penalty corners won while the scoring rate was as low as ours.
This shows that the run-out of penalty corner defence has improved tremendously, making the drag flicks and set-pieces more difficult to execute.
And so, we have been training daily since, for the push out to reach the stopper in 1 or 0.9 seconds consistently to do more damage in the World League.
Q: Asian teams which we could beat, like Japan and China, have shown tremendous progress and have almost caught up with Malaysia. Has our game stagnated?
A: No. It has not stagnated, as our past results against Japan and China have always been close. Even though we did beat Japan 7-2 and China 5-1 in the Asian Champions Trophy in Kuantan, the other results have been close.
We had to come from behind (0-2) to beat China on penalties in the final in Dhaka, and the positive from there was that the players’ fighting spirit was tested and they passed the test.
Q: South Korea and China are in Malaysia’s group in London, while in the crossover quarter-finals there is a high probability of meeting India or Pakistan. Does playing Asian sides favour our bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup?
A: There are pros and cons. On the positive side, we regularly play Asian teams and are more comfortable with their style and know their strengths and weaknesses.
We have plenty of videos to watch and learn how to beat them as compared to European sides like Germany or Netherlands who we rarely meet.
On the negative side, our Asian opponents also know us like an open book. This is where determination, and a surprise element comes into the picture to seal the points.
Q: Before the Azlan Shah Cup, the players did speed running and weights. What kind of training have you been conducting with the players since?
A: The players fitness is no longer an issue as they fought till the end in every match in the Azlan Shah Cup and we are just having drills to keep them that way.
The training now is more on being sharp in the semi-circle, and on penalty corner executions. Morning and evening drills are on these two factors as split second decisions are what we need to beat all the well prepared teams in London.
Q: What is your best memory from Los Angeles (1984 Olympics)? And did your dad and uncle have any interesting anecdotes from their Olympic experiences?
A: Penalty strokes for me and my dad, while my uncle was proud to be among the first hockey Olympians in the country.
In 1964 in Tokyo while playing against India, Malaysia won a penalty stroke and none of the players dared to take it. My dad stepped forward and scored.
Even though Malaysia lost the match 3-1, he was always proud of the fact that he scored against eventual gold medallists India. (India beat Pakistan 1-0 in the final).
As for me, even though we finished 11th in Los Angeles, my best memory was in the 11th-12th placing match against the United States where the full-time score was 3-3.
Those days a player had to take two penalty strokes, and I scored both in our 9-8 victory.
Q: After the World League Semi-finals, Malaysia will host the Sea Games and while the field hockey gold has always favoured the nation, are we ready for the indoor challenge?
A: Even though the priority now is to qualify for the World Cup, after the World League, I will release my players for both the field and indoor hockey tournaments in the Sea Games where our target is to win four gold medals (two gold each in the men’s and women’s indoor and field events).