KUALA LUMPUR: The national men’s hockey team struggled before getting their act together to down Canada 3-2 in their 2022 FIH Nations Cup championship Group B match in South Africa yesterday.
The slim victory has reignited the Speedy Tigers’ hopes of qualifying for the semifinals after losing 0-1 to 2022 Asia Cup champions South Korea in their first match Monday.
Canada, ranked 16th in the world, surprised 10th ranked Malaysia with a Sean Davis field goal in the 19th minute at NWU Astro Stadium in Potchefstroom.
The Speedy Tigers managed to equalise through a penalty corner by Muhammad Firhan Ashaari in the 33rd minute, only to see Canada get ahead with a penalty corner in the 40th minute.
The Malaysians did not throw in the towel, and their repeated attacks paid off when man of the match, Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored two field goals in the 50th and 57th minute.
Head coach A. Arulselvaraj said the win was a great victory thanks to the positive and never-say-die attitude shown by his charges, who fought till the end of the match.
“Although we were behind twice, 0-1 and 1-2, they kept fighting to win. Yes there is slight disppointment in the marking and urgency to react, which needs to be corrected,” he said in a video that was shared.
As the team heads to the last match against Japan this Thursday in their do-or-die mission to qualify for the semifinals as group runners-up, Arulselvaraj said he was a bit concerned to field his best squad as several players were injured.
He said even though they had beaten Japan in the last three meetings, it was their performance in the upcoming match that will determine if they make it to the semis.
“Sometime statistics are just numbers, tomorrow’s performance is important even if we come out full of spirit and with high confidence. If we view injuries, we need to switch players’ positions around to field 11 players, that’s my concern,” he added.
South Korea, who beat Japan 3-1 yesterday, are on top of the group with six points, followed by Japan and Malaysia, with three points each and Canada in last place. – Bernama
