Saturday, January 15, 2011

BENG HAI DOES MALAYSIA PROUD

Tai Beng Hai has created history of sorts for Malaysian hockey, as he is now an International Hockey Federation High Performance Coach as well as a Development Coach.

It is indeed a rare honour for a coach to be qualified in both categories and it is a reflection of his ability and dedication towards the sport. Dato Tayyab Ikram who is the Secretary of the FIH High Performance Committee as well as the Coaching Chief at FIH relayed Beng Hai’s elevation to a High Performance Coach.

And Dato Tayyab, who is in Kuala Lumpur for the Asian Hockey Federation Congress, also revealed that former international, Lim Chiow Chuan has qualified as a High Performance Coach, following his successful presentation at the seminar held in Monchengladbach, Germany, in July, during the Champions Trophy.

“It is indeed a proud moment for Malaysian hockey as these two coaches have shown that they have what it takes to deliver in high performance,” said Dato Tayyab.

“Asian coaches need to work harder and not look at coaching as just a profession but have to be professional in their approach. We are still lagging in this department and need to re-double our efforts to match the best in the world.”

Beng Hai took over as the Malaysian national coach in January 2009 and led Malaysia to a runner-up position in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup the same year. In the recent Asian Games, Beng Hai helped Malaysia secure an unprecedented silver medal.

As for Chiow Chuan, he was attached to the Singapore Hockey Association until recently and assumed the position of the Head Coach for the 1Mas Development Program in September last year.

Besides these two, the other High Performance Coaches from Malaysia are Stephen van Huizen, Wallace Tan and Colin Sta Maria.