KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian men's and women's hockey teams will begin their quest for gold in the Asia Cup indoor tournament beginning in Bangkok tomorrow.
Coached by Amin Rahim, a former national field hockey player, the Malaysian men will start against Singapore in the round-robin tournament.
For the women, their opener is against Cambodia in Group B which has four teams while Group A has five teams.
The World No 21 ranked Malaysian men team's biggest rivals are Iran (world No 3) while the World No 33 Malaysian women will have a tough time against World No 11 Kazakhstan.
"We are confident of beating Indonesia and Thailand, who are also good in indoor hockey in this region, and even though this edition of the Asia Cup is not a World Cup qualifier, Malaysia want to win medals in the men and women's events," said women's coach Rodzhanizam Mat Radzi.
In the 2019 Asia Cup in Thailand, the Malaysian men won bronze while the women finished fourth.
Men group: Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia.
Women: Group A: Kazakhstan, Taiwan, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan.
Group B: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia.