ASIAN HOCKEY TEAMS SHOULD START TRAINING EARLY FOR BARCELONA

IPOH (Malaysia), Aug 10 (Bernama) -- Asian countries should start training
early for the World Indoor Hockey Six-A-Side Championship in Barcelona in 2011,
said Asian Hockey Federation (AFH) secretary-general P. Alagendra.

"Most countries in Europe have made early preparations ahead of the
qualifying round expected to start next year.

"For Asian countries, the AHF will organise several championships this year
to promote the sport," he told Bernama here Monday.

He said the Asian Indoor Women's Hockey Championship would be held in
Bangkok in October while the Men's Under-18 championship of the same would be
held in Myanmar from Nov 12 to 22.

As indoor hockey was still relatively new in Asian countries, teams needed
to take part in as many championships as possible to help players adapt, he
said.

Alagendra added that countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which were
previously not famous for hockey, had produced mighty teams after participating
in many championships.
-- BERNAMA