National coach Paul Revington during a press conference on Tuesday.
KUALA LUMPUR: National hockey coach Paul Revington has told his men that they need to get over the death of forward Chua Boon Huat and focus on going all out to win the Asia Cup, which will be held in Ipoh from Aug 24-Sept 1.
The 33-year-old Boon Huat died in a car accident last Thursday and his body was cremated in Malacca on Monday.
Malaysia have never won the Asia Cup, with their best effort being a third placing in Chennai in 2007.
“Boon Huat will always be on our minds. But the players need to get back on their horses as soon as possible because we have an important assignment in Ipoh,” said Revington yesterday. “We want to win the Asia Cup and earn the ticket to next year’s World Cup in The Hague, Holland,” said Revington.
There are 25 players in the training squad for the Asia Cup, including the 16 who featured in the World League semi-finals in Johor Baru last month.
Revington has also ruled out Mohd Amin Rahim from the Asia Cup as the defender is still recovering from a knee injury. The 16 who featured in Johor Baru are assured of their places in the 18-man final squad, with Revington set to name two more players on Aug 16.
And there are eight players – Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin, Azreen Rizal Nasir, Jivan Mohan, Khairulnizam Ibrahim, Meor Mohd Azuan Hassan, Mohd Azammi Adabi, Mohd Ramadan Rosli and Norhizzat Sumantri – vying for the two remaining spots.
Malaysia will open their Asia Cup Group A campaign against Taiwan on Aug 24. Their other matches are against Pakistan (Aug 25) and Japan (Aug 27).
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