SPORTS

SEA Games 2025: Senior Hockey Squad Given Mission To Defend Gold Medal

06/12/2025 05:38 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 (Bernama) — Malaysia will field a senior squad with the mission to defend the men's field hockey championship at the 2025 SEA Games in Chonburi, Thailand from Dec 11 to 19.

The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) in a statement announced that the national squad is now on the best track to expand their dominance at the biennial stage when they have previously collected 17 gold medals since their first participation in Kuala Lumpur in 1971 to the last edition in Cambodia in 2023.

Meanwhile, the national squad has only ever finished as runner-up once at the 1973 SEA Games in Singapore.

"The event, which will be held at the National Sports University, Chonburi, will bring together five countries involving Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore with a group play competition format before the top four teams advance to the semi-finals," according to a statement today.

Based on the current rankings, Malaysia, ranked 13th in the world is the top seed, far ahead of Myanmar (69), Thailand (72), Indonesia (75) and Singapore (81).

Speedy Tigers will begin their challenge against Myanmar on Dec 12 before facing Indonesia the next day followed by a clash against Singapore on Dec 15, while the final group stage action will be against the hosts, Thailand on Dec 16.

The semi-final action is scheduled to take place on Dec 18 with the first-placed team facing the fourth-placed team while the group runners-up will face the third-placed team, with the winners meeting in the final on Dec 19.

Meanwhile, Speedy Tigers head coach Sarjit Singh said that of the 18 players brought, only 15 players played in the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Tournament.

Sarjit also stressed that competition among ASEAN countries is growing tougher and there are no easy opponents even though Malaysia has a much better ranking.

“ASEAN is now full of teams that want to challenge Malaysia. We respect all opponents.

“Our focus is not on thinking about who is not our match, but on ensuring that we play to our own standards and bring home the gold medal,” he said.

Sarjit insisted that the SEA Games are an important part of our preparations for the World Cup qualifiers and that it will be used to sharpen set-pieces, transitions, and game management to ensure that Malaysia achieves the best momentum when facing bigger challenges after this.

Here is a list of 18 players who are tasked with leading Malaysia’s challenge in the hunt for the 2025 SEA Games gold medal:

GOALKEEPERS

Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman

Mohammad Rafaizul Mohamad Saini

DEFENCE

Muhammad Marhan Mohd Jalil

Syed Mohammad Syafiq Syed Cholan

Muhammad Amirul Hamizan Azahar

Faiz Helmi Jali

Muhammad Faris Harizan

Muhammad Najib Abu Hassan

CENTRE