For anyone who may wonder why hockey is not considered a global sport, the just-concluded Asia Cup here makes a good case study.

Malaysia are one of the better Asian teams in hockey — they finished fourth in the Asia Cup — but here in Kuantan, not many were aware of the tournament being on. The venue — the Wisma Belia complex, which means “building of youth” in Malay — is a famous landmark. But it’s not because of the tournament, the complex just happens to be a training base for new recruits to the Malaysian maritime forces.

Surprisingly, even most of those who work at the sprawling complex on the outskirts of the city — it houses among other things, a mess, a restaurant and a swimming pool — are ignorant of the tournament till asked about it. Most people on the streets have no idea about hockey, except that it’s a sport dominated by India and Pakistan.

In contrast, the Darul Makmur football stadium is situated in the heart of Kuantan city. It acts as the local bus terminal as well and is known as the central reference point for every direction. At full capacity, the stadium can seat about 30,000 people and sees an audience of around 5,000 people even for local state and district level tournaments, despite an entry fee for every game.

Any remaining doubts on football’s popularity are done away with a glance of the number of playing fields around the city. At any given time, every park and open space in the city has at least a few youngsters dribbling football.

... contd.