After the national team’s recent 1-0 defeat in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2017 against New Zealand yesterday, the Malaysian hockey head coach, Stephen Van Huizen refuses to sound the warning bells ahead of their preparation for the upcoming Hockey World League Round 3 in London next month.
With only a solitary point from four matches and currently sitting at the foot of six-nation competition standings, Van Huizen instead chose to focus on his team’s fighting spirit despite going down 1-0 to Great Britain (Tuesday) and the Kiwis.
“We were disappointed we couldn’t get at least a point or a win against New Zealand because this is a match we thought that could have gone our way. We started out slow in the first half as our shots were off target, however, we still managed to earn four penalty corners which we failed to make the most of,” he said.
“From the past two matches, in terms of performance, we could really see that our players put up a good fight and the only problem is that we are not taking our opportunities well,” added Van Huizen.
Despite being proud of his team’s performance, the 58-year old Van Huizen admitted that New Zealand deserved the win having played better, especially in defending the penalty corners.
A 25th minute penalty corner converted by Kane Russell was enough to secure the win for the Kiwis as Malaysia were left to rue their luck. Malaysia’s improved performance in the second half saw them came close to leveling the score but were twice denied by the woodwork.
The narrow defeat to the Kiwis shattered the home team’s chances of finishing in the 3rd /4th playoff spot as they needed two wins from their last two group matches to advance. Instead, the Malaysians will now feature in the 5th / 6th playoff match against Japan on Saturday.
“We may not be getting the results that we want for this tournament but I think we are playing some good hockey, only not consistently throughout the matches as there are still some parts of our game that we need to work on. Heading into this tournament, our main motive was to identify and work on our weaknesses as we prepare for the Hockey World League Round 3 in London,” said Van Huizen.
Focusing on his team’s final group match tomorrow, Van Huizen warned that their opponents, India will definitely put on their best show tomorrow as they are competing for a place in Saturday’s final.
“We will not take them lightly because India is one of the teams competing in London as we might meet again in the crossovers. So, we will be trying to study them and I’m sure they’ll be doing the same of us. Regardless, we have to take it as another game to keep improving in this tournament and hopefully produce a positive result,” Van Huizen said, when interviewed.
Malaysia will take on second-place India tomorrow in the final match of the group stage after the leaders, Australia’s clash with Japan while Great Britain takes on New Zealand in the first match of the day.
Fixtures (5th May, 2017):
4.05pm – Great Britain v New Zealand
6.05pm – Australia v Japan
8.35pm – India v Malaysia
