The Malaysia Invitational Underwater Hockey tournament, the first of many ?

Published on 19 December 2022

Lire en français

From 2 to 4 December 2022, the Malaysia Invitational Underwater hockey tournament was held at the Sky Arena Sport Complex in Kuala Lumpur. A new step in the development of underwater hockey in the country that we will analyse with one of the organisers, Roshan Babu Balakrishnan.

After the health crisis, many countries had difficulties to find a new breath. For Malaysia, it took three years. The idea of the Malaysia Invitational Underwater Hockey Tournament (MIUWHT) emerged in 2019. « We have been planning for this competition since 2019 after attending the Manila Invitational 2019. We wanted to replicate a tournament like that in Malaysia. But with SEA Games and covid lockdown, we delayed the idea until recently.« . It took four months to organise the tournament, which included a number of Asian teams. Singapore, Hong Kong and of course Malaysia. « Since we were focused with team around Asia, we have been communicating with them and planning for a date most suitable with everyone. Once the date was fixed, everything else moved pretty much on schedule and quick. »

The tournament lasted three days and featured eight teams including two Barbarian teams. Several generations of hockey players participated, a success for the organisers. « The main goal of the tournament was to develop the next generation of players in Asia. Giving them the experience of a competitive setup will make them more prepared of going to the next level of competitions outside Asia. »

This is the first time Malaysia has hosted a tournament of this scale. It probably won’t be the last as the organisers plan to hold three or four tournaments in 2023. « Two will be local competitions and two more we aim for it to be open for all international participant. »

To finish, here is a video to get you in the atmosphere of the tournament !