Its not so simple to be part of the national team, no matter how well known the sport may be. Recently, we met up with the Malaysian Water Polo team that will be representing Malaysia in the SEA Games 2023 being held in Jakarta. We did an interview with them and got a more insight look of the sport. So here’s how the interview went.
What was your most memorable moment in the water polo career so far?
Syahir, Team Captain said:
"So for me individually, the greatest moment is 2017 Sea Games at Kuala Lumpur. At that time, we won Bronze medal. It’s been a long time coming, for 30 years we didn’t get Medal for Water Polo. So, finally in 2017 we won a Medal. For me that’s my greatest moment."
Can you tell us about your training regimen for the upcoming SEA Games?
Goh Kai Yi, Team Coach said:
"So for our training regimen, we managed to gather the team somewhere around after Chinese New Year and we have been training about 4 sessions a week. Usually on the weekends we have double sessions, so it makes out about 6 sessions per week, for the past 3 months."
What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a water polo player?
Syahir, Team Captain said:
"All the players are from different states, which makes up the national team. So basically all of them have to travel around for centralized training. Most of them are young, they have their studies and work. And for me, I have my work too. We have to travel around from NS to KL, then to different states. To me, that’s a sacrifice that you have to make for the team."
What advice would you give to aspiring water polo players?
Goh Kai Yi, Team Coach said:
"My advice is sports is a very direct scenario. The more you train, the more effort you put in with passion and dedication, perseverance the better you will be. The path is not easy due to the unpopularity of our sports in Malaysia but we still exist for the national team. So for them to step up, they have to work hard with their current state coaches, try to be dedicated, to always want to reach a higher level rather than just representing their own states and once we go beyond states, I hope everyone can understand it has to be a borderless thing because we are all playing under one flag which is Malaysia itself."
Check out the Interview below:
