Canada and Malaysia's participation in this tournament were merely for exposure and collecting ranking points in their preparation for the final stage of the Olympic qualifying round. By being ranked 10th and 13th respectively in the world, they have qualified.
What interests me most in this tournament was the emerging of European hockey nations as a hockey powerhouse i.e. Italy, Austria, and Wales who finished 3rd,4th, and 5th respectively in this tournament. Italy beat Austria 2-1 for the third placing and Wales defeated China who achieved a remarkable 10th placing in the recent 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India with a score of 3-2.
The most impressive of the lot was Italy. Despite being ranked No. 32 in the world and the lowest in the tournament, they went on to beat higher-ranked teams like China, Malaysia, Brazil, and Austria. Another nation that is emerging in Europe is France.
Take a look at the FIH world-ranked teams from No. 1-12 you will get a clearer picture of European dominance in hockey. From Europe itself, there are 6 nations on the list i.e. Belgium, Netherland, Germany, England, Spain, and Ireland. I foresee many more European nations will be moving up the ladder to be among the 12 best teams in the World.
With the dominance of European nations in hockey growing, it's wiser for nations from these particular continents i.e. Asia, Africa, and Pan America to clinch the one slot allocated by FIH for the Olympics by winning in their respective continent's championship then going through the qualifier.
Some of you might be eager to know my view on the Malaysian hockey team. Let me rewind time a bit for you to get a clearer picture of where Malaysian hockey stands today.
In the 1991 Olympic Qualifier in Auckland, New Zealand, we shattered Belgium dream of qualifying for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelone, Spain with a 5-3 scoreline. ( For your information, since winning or losing doesn't affect the team's position to top the table and have qualified for the Olympics, key players were rested for the semifinal ).
Today Belgium has moved on to win the silver medal in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics and the World Champion in the recent 2018 World Cup. Currently, Belgium is ranked No 1 in the world.
As for Malaysia, the last Olympics it participated was in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2018 World Cup finished a miserable 15th out of sixteen teams.
For Malaysia, there is a flicker of hope to make it to the 2020 Olympics but my only fear is the commonly used phrase for the Malaysian hockey team will haunt them again; "it's so close yet so far."
Thank You.
Take this opportunity to wish the Malaysian hockey team all the best in their quest to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
