Ready to lead: Ashran Hamsani (centre) celebrating after scoring for UniKL in the Malaysian Hockey League last February.
PETALING JAYA: National midfielder Ashran Hamsani will look at the positives from the postponement of the Asian Champions Trophy for the second time.
The tournament in Bangladesh was deferred from Nov 17-27 to March 11-19 this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic but now, it’s likely to be held later this year.
The 25-year-old Ashran was initially heartbroken as he had been really looking forward to it.
“All of us were preparing for the tournament but it’s sad to see it being postponed again. We’ve to look at it positively though as it’s done for our own safety, ” said Ashran.
“We can use this time to strengthen the team further by taking our own initiative to work on our fitness and weaknesses.
“Whether it is through training or video analysis, it is a good time to boost our performance.
“We’ll make sure that we will be 100 per cent ready when the Asian Champions Trophy starts. The target is to be in the final.”
The players are undergoing daily online training and Ashran said that everyone is committed, which is a good sign.
“I try to jog everyday to get some fresh air too, ” he said.
Besides building up his physical and mental strength, Ashran says he has been learning about leadership under the guidance of coach A. Arulselvaraj.
“I’ve been given the responsibility to lead and it actually helps a lot with my confidence in the game, ” he said.
“I’ve to minimise the mistakes. Midfield is an important position and, understandably, the competition will always be stiff. There are some new boys in the mix, ” added Ashran.
