Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal wants the national men''s hockey squad to use the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Ipoh starting today as a platform to improve on their weaknesses for the coming 2018 World Cup Qualifying.

Subahan , who is optimistic that the Malaysian Tigers under coach Stephen Van Huizen are capable of qualifying for the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India, said focus should be given to improve game techniques and penalty corner strategy.

"I want the players to take the opportunity when playing with the best teams in the world such as Australia which are ranked second in the world, England (7th) and New Zealand (8).

"For me, the exposure acquired at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is more important compared to the results as playing against the top teams in the world is not easy. What is important is the results at the World Cup final qualifying stage," he told reporters after an MHC executive committee meeting here, Saturday.

To qualify for the World Cup, Malaysia ranked 14th in the world, need to be in the top five at the World Hockey League third round from June 15 to 25, which is the final qualifying round for World Cup.

Since the Hockey World Cup began in 1971, Malaysia had qualified for the final seven times with the best achievement being fourth place when hosting the event in 1975.

On the women''s squad which will also be in action at the World Hockey League in Brussels, Belgium from June 21 to July 2, Subahan said the Malaysian Tigress were capable of creating upsets with their bold fighting spirit.

"They had very good exposure in Europe playing against the under 21 teams of Netherlands and Germany as well as European division one league teams," he said.

-- BERNAMA