One of the world’s most prestigious field hockey tournaments bears the name of a former King of Malaysia, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. With links to Malaysian Royalty and in a country passionate about field hockey, it is considered a great honour to be invited to the annual event held in Perak Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Testament to the global respect for Field Hockey Canada Men’s National Program, not only were the Canadian Men invited to the 23rd edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, they were requested to compete against the hosts from Malaysia in a 3 game pre-tournament series from March 6-9. Both invitations were eagerly accepted by Canada, who has a stated goal for 2014 of competing against more of the world’s best sides.
All three friendly matches were played in the Southern State of Malacca at the Bukit Serindit Hockey Stadium. Malaysia is currently ranked three spots ahead of Canada in the FIH world rankings and each game was fiercely contested, always in front of a passionate large crowd. It was the 13th ranked Malaysians who took two of the three matches, the second game going to the Canadians a nine-goal thriller in front of a full stadium.
Canada v Malaysia Friendly Series Results:
- Game 1: Malaysia 6 – Canada 2
Goals by Hudson Stewart (Vancouver, BC), Iain Smythe (Vancouver BC).
- Game 2: Canada 5 – Malaysia 4
Goals by James Kirkpatrick (Victoria, BC), Gabe Ho-Garcia (Burnaby, BC), Gordie Johnston (Vancouver, BC), Iain Smythe (Vancouver, BC) and Philip Wright (Vancouver, BC).
- Game 3: Malaysia 5 – Canada 1
Goal by Gabe Ho-Garcia (Burnaby, BC)
With the men acclimatized and all Canadian players competing in European clubs now with the team, Canada travels to Ipoh where they will compete in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup against highly ranked competition. With six games, starting on March 14 versus Korea, the Canadians will take on teams from no less than four different continents.
- March 14 versus Korea 7
- March 16 versus Australia 1
- March 17 versus Malaysia 13
- March 19 versus South Africa 12
- March 20 versus China 25
- March 23 classification matches
Canadian Men’s National Roster in Malaysia:
Adam Froese (Abbotsford, BC)
Antoni Kindler (Vancouver, BC)
Benjamin Martin (Vancouver, BC)
David Carter (Vancouver, BC)
Gabriel Ho-Garcia (Burnaby, BC)
Gordon Johnston (Vancouver, BC)
Hudson Stewart (Vancouver, BC)
Jagdish Gill (Toronto, ON)
James Kirkpatrick (Victoria, BC)
Iain Smythe (Vancouver, BC)
Keegan Pereira (Ajax, ON)
Mark Pearson (Tsawwassen, BC)
Matt Guest (Calgary, AB)
Paul Wharton (Vancouver, BC)
Philip Wright (Vancouver, BC)
Scott Tupper (Vancouver, BC)
Sukhi Panesar (Surrey, BC)
Taylor Curran (North Vancouver, BC)
For a fan-friendly in-depth look at Field Hockey Canada Men’s National Team in Malaysia follow: https://www.facebook.com/CanadianMensNationalFieldHockeyTeam
Twitter: @FHC_MNT
Instagram: fhc_mnt
