Mirnawan Nawawi, who stepped down as the Team Manager of the Malaysian junior hockey squad recently, claimed that he is responsible for the team’s inability to qualify for the Junior World Cup.
Despite being massive favourites, the Malaysian juniors were surprisingly beaten by South Korea in the quarter-finals of the Junior Asia Cup last week, ending their World Cup hopes instantly.
Mirnawan tendered his resignation shortly afterwards, claiming that he deserves to be held accountable for the team’s failure in Kuantan.
“I will accept responsibility for the team’s failure. As far as I’m concerned, the management failed to assist the boys in qualifying for the World Cup. Hence, I would like to apologize to MHC as well as the fans,” he told Harian Metro.
“But we didn’t fail to build a good team. We have some potential stars as well, who could go on to play for the national team. I hope the team is retained for the SEA Games as well as the Sultan of Johor Cup.
“I will be responsible for the failure. For me, the management has failed to assist the team to qualify for the World Cup. I apologized to MHC and the fans.
“But we didn’t fail to build a good team and we have some potential stars for the national team in the near future. I hope the team is retained for the upcoming Sultan Johor Cup and SEA Games.
“My decision to leave will allow someone else to step in and help guide Malaysia into the 2020 Junior World Cup. I will continue to support the team from far,” he added.
During his tenure as team manager, the Malaysian junior squad won the Sultan Johor Cup in 2011, won the Junior Asia Cup in 2012 and finished the Junior World Cup 2013 in fourth place.
Other posts by Omar Zin
