Having seen the national team failing to qualify for the Olympics at the Dublin Qualifiers, Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) President Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah never expected his strongman Maninderjit Singh to quit as the Secretary of MHC.
Thus he expressed sadness and surprised at the sudden resignation of Maninderjit, and also the fact that he has yet to hear from Maninderjit personally.
Tengku Abdullah also confirmed that Maninderjit had expressed his desire to leave last October but had agreed to stay on till the end of 2012.
However he accepted the resignation and said it was time to move on as so far as MHC was concerned and that it was important to move forward instead of dwelling over this.
And just prior to this interview, Tengku Abdullah met with national coach Tai Beng Hai to discuss about the national team and Beng Hai's future with MHC.
While a discussion was held between MHC Coaching Chairman Manjit Majid Abdullah and nine Chairman of the state coaching committees ( the absentees being Perlis, Terengganu, PDRM, Selangor, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak ) and the consensus was that Beng Hai and his assistants continue until the Azlan Shah Cup, Tengku Abdullah was non commital.
"I have heard the views of the coaching chairman and also discussed with Beng Hai. However I have yet to decide on whats the best option although the consensus was to retain Beng Hai until the Azlan Shah Cup," said Tengku Abdullah.
"I need a couple of days more before deciding whats the best way forward for Malaysian hockey and also consider the options available and other possibilities.
"Thus please let me have a few days to decide and there has been no decision about who will coach the team for the Azlan Shah Cup."
Note: Watch part 2 of the interview tomorrow where Tengku Abdullah talks about restructuring MHC, domestic competitions and the national team.
