KUALA LUMPUR: Hats off to the Malaysian men's indoor hockey team for creating history in the Asia Cup in Bangkok on Monday.
Despite relying on field hockey players, Amin Rahim's team defied the odds to put an end to the dominance of eight-time champions Iran.
World No 21 Malaysia turned the tables on World No 3 Iran in the final as they won the penalty shootout 3-2 after the match ended 4-4 in regulation time. And it was sweet revenge for Malaysia who had lost 3-0 to Iran in a round robin match days earlier.
The Asia Cup triumph shows that the national indoor team have a bright future, but a long-term programme is needed to produce quality players to achieve better results beyond the continent.
Remarkably, the indoor team became Asian champions within a relatively short time while the national field hockey team are still trying to excel at continental level after five decades.
On Monday, Ashran Hamsani was the toast of the team, scoring a brace (12th, 36th minutes) while Shello Silverius (16th) and Norhafizie Jamil (26th) contributed the other goals.
In the penalty shootout, Malaysia's heroes were Izham Azhar, Norsyafiq Sumantri and Shello.
Amin said he was delighted with the fighting spirit of his players as they matched the higher-ranked Iranians blow for blow.
"We are the new champions in Asia and we must continue with our training programme as Malaysia have big potential to reach the highest level in the world in indoor hockey.
"After our Asian success, our next aim is to qualify for the World Cup in 2026.
"What is important now is to have a long-term programme to produce more calibre players. The players also need more exposure as indoor hockey is still new in Malaysia.
"We need to play more matches with stronger teams, and we also need to play in overseas leagues so that we can have a formidable team for tournaments.
"We must have a bigger pool of players and cannot just rely on field hockey players. We also need to have more coaches if we are to continue progressing in indoor hockey," said Amin.
The Malaysian women's team also gave a creditable show in Bangkok as they won the bronze after beating six-time champions and world No. 13 Kazakhstan 2-0.
Malaysia, ranked 21 in the world, scored through penalty strokes taken by Iren Hussin in the 15th and Nur Aisyah Yaacob in the 39th minutes.
Malaysia coach Rodzhanizam Mat Radzi praised the women for playing like true champions. "We have potential and we need to continue training and playing as many matches as possible to achieve better results," he said.
Hosts Thailand edged Indonesia 2-1 in the final to win the women's title for the first time. Kazakhstan beat Indonesia 5-4 to win bronze in the men's tournament.
