ASIA Cup silver medallists Malaysia are in a bind as the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) have yet to name the venue and dates for the World Cup qualifier.
National coach Arul Selvaraj is scratching his head, as all he can do right now is to keep training his players without a concrete plan as to when to get his team to peak.
In 2017, Malaysia lost 2-1 to India in the Asia Cup final while Pakistan beat South Korea 6-3 for bronze.
The 2023 World Cup, to be hosted by India on Jan 13-29, is a 16-team tournament.
The Asia Cup offers the semi-finalists a direct entry into the World Cup.
"The women's Asia Cup has been decided upon (Jan 21-28), but I'm still waiting for a confirmed venue and dates from the AHF on the men's tournament.
"It is an important World Cup qualifier, and so all teams need to know the dates at least, so that coaches can start setting a concrete plan to achieve a peak in fitness for their players.
"Right now, I am just training my players 'blindly', and I hope the AHF will decide soon on the host country and dates," said Arul.
In the Asia Cup, Malaysia have won the silver medal in 2017, bronze in 2007 and fourth placing five times in 1982, 1994, 1999, 2009 and 2013.
Yet again, the usual suspects expected to reach the semi-finals are Malaysia, India, South Korea and either Japan or Pakistan.
"I will include more players into my training squad, and make an announcement soon.
"Right now, players who were supposed to play in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) are in training," said Arul.
Malaysia were denied their moment at the ACT in Dhaka after one player contracted Covid-19 on the eve of departure, and subsequently the entire team were grounded.
In the ACT, South Korea won the gold by beating Japan 4-2 in a shootout after a 3-3 draw, while India picked up the bronze after edging Pakistan 4-3.
The Speedy Tigers are certainly hungry for some competitive action as they have not played in a tournament since the 2019 Azlan Shah Cup in March 2019.
The team finished third in that tournament.