UniKL’s new goalkeeper will be a Harte man to beat
KUALA LUMPUR: Irish goalkeeper David Harte will be a hard man to beat when he makes his debut in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) starting on Jan 3.
The 29-year-old Harte has played for Ireland 203 times and will bring his wealth of experience to Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in the Premier Division.
Harte has featured in five European championships in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015 and this year.
The Ireland skipper also played in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and helped his country to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India.
He also won bronze medals in the European Championship and the Champions Challenge 1.
He’s also not short on individual honours too, being named the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) best goalkeeper in 2015 and 2016. Harte was also honoured as Europe’s best in 2015.
Harte, who has also played for SV Kampong in Holland and Dabang Mumbai in the Hockey India League, cited his most memora- ble moment was at the Rio Olympics as it was the first time Ireland have qualified in 108 years.
He said he is now looking forward to his MHL adventure.
“I like the way Malaysian hockey teams play. They have an open and expansive style with lighting fast counter attacks. The MHL also has world class players,” said Harte.
“The Malaysian team are not called the Speedy Tigers for nothing. Ireland have always found it tough playing Malaysia.
“I remember two games really well. The first was an Olympic qualifier in Dublin in 2012, where we managed a draw with minutes to go to qualify,” said Harte.
“The second was a fifth-placing playoff in the World League semi-finals in Belgium, where we won to qualify for Rio,” said Harte.
He said he chose the MHL because he knows UniKL coach A. Arulselvaraj, who was in Dublin for many years.
“With no India league next year, I decided to play in Malaysia to experience something new.
“I’ll be playing with a young team and I’ll use all my experience to help UniKL do well,” added Harte.