Kuala lumpur: The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) is optimistic that the national men's hockey squad will be able to book a slot in the 2026 Men's World Cup in the Netherlands this August. Its president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said national squad coach Sarjit Singh had prepared the Speedy Tigers squad to give a tough fight at the 2026 Men's World Cup Qualifiers in Ismailia, Egypt from March 1-7.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Subahan expressed confidence in the determination shown by the Speedy Tigers, which gives him hope for a better performance than previous years. "God willing, I have never been more confident in the coach. They work hard and indeed coach Sarjit has his own plan. They have just returned from Australia and we pray that they will give their best. I always think positively," he stated. He added that while fate and destiny play a role, he believes coach Sarjit and the players will strive to qualify for the World Cup.

Malaysia, ranked 13th in the world, has been drawn in Group B and will face Austria on March 1, Pakistan on March 2, and China on March 4 in Ismailia, Egypt. The other teams in the group include Pakistan, ranked 14th, Austria at 21st, and China at 23rd. Malaysia last participated in the World Cup in 2023, where they finished 13th out of 15 teams.

Commenting on the Annual General Meeting (AGM), Subahan revealed plans to increase grassroots programs, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, to discover new talent. "There are several things proposed by the states in terms of development and we will discuss with the National Hockey Development Programme (NHDP) under the National Sports Council to try more grassroots programmes. This year we will also focus more on development programmes in Sabah and Sarawak because we see a lot of talent there," he said.