The 18-member men's ice hockey team took part in the Malaysian delegation's flag-raising ceremony held in Changchun International Conference and Exhibition Center on Friday. The athletes from the tropical country looked thrilled as they took off their overcoats in the frozen hall and sang the national anthem loudly.

    "We are here to gain some experiences and have fun in the competition," said Kam, while his players were taking pictures excitedly.

    "We have trained six months for the Asian Winter Games," said Kam, but all of our players aged from 19 to 28 are amateurs. Therefore, we don't set our target on the podium."

    The Malaysian team is slated to play their first match at the winter Asiad against Hong Kong of China Friday evening. The Hong Kong's squad is also built up by amateur players and expects to enjoy themselves on the rink in Changchun.

    20-year-old player Lan Tracy thought little about the matches and said he found Changchun was really an interesting city, although the weather here is much colder than that in his nation.

    According to Kam, Malaysian ice hockey has a short history of seven years but nowadays the sport has attracted more and more people.

    Besides men's ice hockey, Malaysia also sent two skaters to compete in the men's figure skating event.