A little behind in posting. Not much news on the local scene so far. Latest is that the Malaysian Handball Open 2006 will be held soon.
I wonder about the progress of Malaysian handball. In international tournaments, as far as I know, we have not won a single match yet.
Brings me to the point of this current post. In 2003 national Men's and Women's teams from Thailand were in Malaysia for an exhibition match. Malaysia lost both matches. At that time, the Thai players were better than their Malaysian counterparts. Yes, they were better organised. They had better skills. They were fitter and faster. Yet, they were no where near proper international level.
Fast forward to the year 2006. I cannot claim to be an expert on the international handball scene. I was surprised to see this article.
ARG-THA 2006-08-15
After the debut two days ago, the Thai girls proved stronger both in defence and attack in their second WC appearance against Pan-American representatives ARG. A small number of goals were scored in the first half. Enthusiasm and speedy attacks even brought a 12:10 half-time lead including six goals alone by Sriruksa. But when play resumed ARG remained at the wheel concluding four counter-attacks to break away 16:13. Thailand was visibly tired suffering from a nine-goal difference in the very end (21:30).Thailand in the Youth World Championship? Losing to South American powerhouse Argentina by only 9 goals??!! And this is already their SECOND World Championship appearance! While playing in Ireland, I had a team-mate who was a former Argentinian national player. He was already in his mid-thirties but his courtsense was astounding. The Irish Olympic Handball League is still in its growing years and is no where near Bundesliga or even Serie A level. There are former Estonian, French, Latvian and Russian national players plying their trade there. Other foreign contries represented include : Malaysia ( yours truly ), Egypt, Norway, Lebanon, Spain, Mauritius, Japan. Not to mention the Irish National Team, plus the occasional Algerian professional, Bundesliga and Serie A player make the league a pretty competent one. This particular Argentinian led the league in steals and assists for a number of years.Back to my orginal point.. when are we going to be able to make real progress? Other countries are already pulling ahead. We do have the facilities. Courts, gym equipment, fitness personel...perhaps what we lack are good coaches. We have locals claiming they have been in the sport for the last 20 years. By that they feel they are justified to coach or referee. The thing is that at what level have you been involved in handball? School? District? State? From what I see, our womens' teams have not made any progress in the last 3 years.
Our mens' teams are no different. Yes, there has been slight improvement. Yet overall there is a lack of structure in attack. In defence there is really much to wish for.
Are we actually willing to learn from others?
P.S. We also have to take into consideration the fact that Malaysian players are not full-time. Nearly all have other commitments e.g. school, putting food on the table...
P.P.S. Not much is done in terms of financial incentives by the sporting bodies.
