Beng Hai: I’m staying put

KUALA LUMPUR: Tai Beng Hai (pic) has pushed aside criticisms against him and insisted he will finish the job he has been assigned to do.

The national hockey coach submitted to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) a report which was highly-critical of the team that performed dismally at the Olympics qualifier in Dublin.

Following that, there were calls for Beng Hai’s own resignation.

However, Beng Hai was totally unfazed. He said yesterday he was focussed on improving the team.

“It’s unfair to the boys that the report is still viewed negatively. Is the objective just to remove me?” asked Beng Hai. “I can’t stop anyone from commenting or saying what they want to say.

“I’ve also included in the report that if MHC decide that a foreign coach is the way forward for the national team, I would gladly make way.”

Beng Hai’s report highlighted several disciplinary problems he had to deal with since he took charge in 2009.

While he maintained his intention was to show how things have changed, he was puzzled why smoking was being singled out as the biggest issue.

“Smoking is a social issue, not just in hockey. It’s not easy to curb this at the senior level. The older the player, the harder it would be for him to quit the habit.

“I have limited options. Sacking players from the team is an option but is it a solution?

“We don’t have the depth to drop players. How would I have been able to prepare for the qualifier if 60 per cent of the team are smokers and I drop them all?”

The national team started centralised training yesterday for next month’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Of the 24 players called up, only 16 joined the morning session while another three were attending classes.

However, all 19 were at the evening gym session at the National Sports Institute. Another five players are with the Project 2013 squad preparing for the Asian Junior Cup in Malacca.