While not the most popular sport in Malaysia, our country has always performed admirably in hockey on the world stage. Most recently, our national squad bagged its highest placement in the sport at the Hockey 5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman by becoming runner-ups.
In fact, did you know that our country pretty much dominates the sport in Southeast Asia, with both our men’s and women’s squads being the highest-ranked in the region?
Malaysia’s hockey squads are the best in Southeast Asia
According to the latest world outdoor ranking by the International Hockey Federation, our men’s hockey squad is the highest-ranked in Southeast Asia with 1,928.27 points, far ahead of 2nd-place Indonesia which has 937.38 points.
Making up the top 5 in men’s hockey are Thailand (873.38 points), Myanmar (840 points) and Vietnam (810 points).
Meanwhile, in the women’s game, our women’s hockey team is also the best in Southeast Asia, placing 1st with 1,353.23 points.
In 2nd place is Thailand with 1062 points, with Singapore (1033.45 points), Brunei (695.19 points) and Cambodia (592.96 points) making up the top 5.
Check out these neat posters by Seasia Stats on our national hockey men’s and women’s squads exploits in Southeast Asia:
Malaysia’s men’s hockey squad is the 13th best in the world, women’s team is the 23rd
In the overall rankings, our men’s hockey team is the 13th best in the world and in Asia, we’re 3rd best, behind only India and South Korea.
Check out the top 13 outdoor hockey world rankings for the men’s game below:
In the women’s game, Malaysia is placed 23rd in the world rankings and in Asia, we’re the 5th best squad behind China, India, Japan and South Korea.
Check out the top 23 outdoor hockey world rankings for the women’s game here.
The International Hockey Federation World Ranking
Do note that the International Hockey Federation adopted a new World Ranking model in 2020 as approved by its executive board.
Moving away from the previous tournament-based ranking system, this new match-based system involves an exchange of points between the 2 teams competing in each match played.
The number of points exchanged depends on the result of the match, the relative ranking of the teams and the importance of the match.
So, what do you guys think of Malaysia’s performance in the rankings? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
