Revington to start new chapter in Malaysian Hockey

After clearing the air for good and deciding to stay on as the national hockey team coach, Paul Revington is ready for a 'new chapter' in Malaysian hockey.

"Few days ago, I woke up a lot happier. The relationships were back to where it was before the Champions Challenge (in December). Any coach coming to a new country cannot do things on his own and I have been reliant on the support of some of the key coaching member's here.

"The decision for me to stay has been based on knowing that the relationships are back in place. I am not going to elaborate in detail, but I think all of us were at some way or another at fault and at the end of the day everyone needs to put their egos aside, sit at the table and talk it over," he told reporters at the National Hockey Stadium ini Bukit Jalil, today.

Reports initially stated that Revington had handed in his resignation on June 15 after citing some internal issues with national youth coach, Muhammad Dharma Raj Abdullah and Director of Hockey Development 1MAS, Lim Chiow Chuan.

But after having met up with Malaysia Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, MHC deputy president Datuk Nur Azmi and National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong yesterday, Revington finally put aside all the issues in regards to his future as the national team coach.

Revington said his focus now was to prepare a formidable team to win the 2013 Asia Cup, to be held in Ipoh, Perak from Aug 24 to Sept 1, and earn a ticket to the World Cup in 2014, scheduled at The Hague, Holland.

Malaysia are in Group A of the 2013 Asia Cup together with Pakistan, Japan and China, while Group B will see defending champions South Korea, going up against India, Oman and Bangladesh.

The South African said as of now, he would not discuss further on the team's tactics because the most important thing was to uplift the world ranking. Malaysia are currently in 13th position.

"We are ranked 13th in the world, so if we keep winning the games in major tournaments, we can go far. I am so proud of our team at the World League Semifinals tournament in Johor Bahru recently (Malaysia finished fifth). The players played very well and it was a superb achievement," added Revington.