Veteran Mark Pearson and the rest of the national men’s field hockey team are getting to see plenty of elite competition this week in Malaysia in its journey to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
The Canadian team is participating in the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, looking to improve on its sixth place finish back in 2016.
Pearson is an 11-year member of the national team program. The 32-year-old from Tsawwassen has 252 international caps to his credit, that includes the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and again in Rio eight years earlier. He also helped Canada win silver at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.
Canada opened the tournament Saturday with a 6-3 loss to Korea before bouncing back with a 4-0 victory over Poland today. Remaining round-robin games include Japan, India and Malaysia.
For head coach Paul Bundy, this tournament is about refining the process and preparing the team for their important qualification events later this year.
The team will return to Malaysia in the summer to play their first stage of Olympic qualifier. Bundy thinks acclimatizing to the environment will be an important step in the right direction.
“This is an ideal opportunity to prepare for the World Series Final,” he said. “Not only will this tournament get us ready to play in the heat, it’s also top-level competition.”
Australia and New Zealand have had a strangle-hold on the gold medals at this tournament since 2011 but with neither team in the field this year, the tournament title is truly up-for-grabs.
“Playing in Malaysia is amazing,” added Bundy. “They have arguably the most exciting fans and venues in the world. Malaysians love their hockey and have a big, passionate fan base.”
