KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian men's and women's Hockey 5s teams will be out to prove a point when they play in the inaugural World Cup in Oman, Muscat, starting on Jan 24.
The women's World Cup will be from Jan 24-27 and the men's event from Jan 25-31. Both genders have been set a quarter-final target, so that more players will be interested in the sport, especially at the school level.
The Malaysian men are in Group D with hosts Oman, Fiji and the United States while the women are in Group A with Fiji, the Netherlands and Oman.
To play in the quarter-finals, Malaysia must finish in the top two in each group.
"Hockey 5s is relatively new in Malaysia and to further promote it, both the men and women need to qualify for the quarter-finals at least. This way, we can ask for more facilities and training tours to play the 5s all year long like field hockey," said Malaysian Hockey Confederation Hockey 5s chairman Hasnizam Hassan.
In the World Cup Qualifier, also held in Oman, the women won bronze after beating Indonesia. They were down 2-4, equalised at 4-4, and then won the bronze medal 2-1 on a shootout.
The men finished fourth, but since hosts Oman won bronze, Malaysia also sneaked into the World Cup.
"The men and women are on full training right now and we have 18 players in each team. By Jan 10, we will select the best 10 men and women to carry the Malaysian flag in the inaugural World Cup.
"We have told both teams that they are the inaugural ambassadors of the sport, and if they do well, more youth will take up the sport especially in schools," said Hasnizam.