Still at number 14 in the world despite failure to make Olympics

Malaysia remained in 14th place in the latest world men’s hockey ranking list even though they failed to qualify for the Olympics.

But coach Sarjit Singh said that two lower ranked sides – Canada (15th) and China (17th) – were expected to overtake them after the Beijing Games next month.

Two other Asian teams who failed to qualify for the Games, India and Japan, who are among the top 10, can also expect a drop in rankings.

“We are without any tournament that offer ranking points. But we need to look ahead and make sure that the team follow the programme well and build on their fitness level,” said Sarjit yesterday.

“The target is the Asia Cup next year. It offers direct entry to the 2010 World Cup Finals and we must go all out to secure it and avoid the qualifying process.”

For the moment, the national team do not have any assignment following the Malaysian Hockey Federation’s (MHF) decision not to send the team for a five-match Test series against China, who are preparing for the Olympics.

Malaysia also have an invitation to play in the four-nation German Masters in October but the MHF have not made a decision on it.

Sarjit said that his training schedule would continue until the MHF make a review.

The National Sports Council (NSC) indicated recently that they were keen to hire a foreigner to take charge of the national team and showed interest in South Korean Kim Sang-ryul.

“I have no comment on the matter. It is their prerogative to make changes. But for now I still have a job to do because I have a contract until 2012,” said Sarjit.