Malaysia competed in the 30th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (SAS Cup) as defending champions, and finishing fourth in the tournament, was not a drastic blow to the Speedy Tigers.
The Japanese, who arrived here as underdogs, ruled the tournament with an unbeaten record leaving Paris Olympics-bound New Zealand, former world champions Pakistan, the South Koreans, and the Canadians licking their wounds.
Now with coach Sarjit Singh, who competed at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics, at the helm, the new-look Speedy Tigers were selected less than 40 days ago, started training during the fasting month, and continued for a few days after the Hari Raya festival before heading for the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh.
It was a mixed team comprising four senior players namely goalkeeper Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman, team captain Marhan Jalil, and the Saari siblings – forward Faizal and midfielder Fitri.
Their performance in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was nothing but admiration. Never mind that we did not make it to the final. Not every day is sunshine and rainbows but each day is an opportunity to make tomorrow better.
“We cannot be too disappointed with our performance. I was really worried about the match against New Zealand (bronze-medal placing) but the boys held their heads high and gave an incredibly good performance, even though we lost 3-2,” said Sarjit, adding that the team started well but made two errors in the penalty corners, even scoring an own goal. Our marking was loose in the first quarter.
“Overall, we were in full control of the third and fourth quarters but we could not put the ball into the net until the last seconds. This is part of learning. Performance wise they did the best considering most of the players in the team are new and this is their first international tournament and experience.”
“Everyone knows that we are building this team for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. There is still a lot of time for us to prepare this team. The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was their first international assignment. After this we will compete in the Nations Cup in Poland (May 31-June 9). We have 30 players in the national team and will rotate the players, introduce another 4-5 players for the Nations Cup. We need to give every player an equal opportunity.” said Sarjit.
The Malaysians got off to their SAS Cup campaign with a remarkable 3-1 lead against three-time champions Pakistan before bowing to a 4-5 defeat, edging New Zealand 6-4, defeating Canada 6-2, losing 1-2 to Japan and claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over South Korea in pool matches.
The experience in the SAS Cup has, without any doubt, sparked optimism that this new-look Speedy Tigers team is a serious contender that will make a big stride in the international arena.
Sarjit also dismissed the notion that had the Speedy Tigers’ new-goal scoring sensation Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal had scored in the penalty flick awarded to the Malaysians against the Black Sticks in the third placing match, it would have put the hosts in an advantage situation. Aizad scored eight goals in the SAS Cup and received the top scorer award.
“It is difficult to assume that the tempo of the game would have changed if he had scored. It can happen to any player. Anybody can miss scoring on a penalty stroke. That is part of the game. Still, we played well enough but we did not take our chances and paid for it,” he said.
“I think Azrai was a marked man in the last three pool matches and struggled with that, and yet he managed to find his way out and to score. He is a good player,” said Sarjit.
On the performance of penalty corner specialist Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan, who came out of retirement to play for the national team, he said: “Syed Cholan is making a comeback after three years and he gave a good performance and we need him in the team. He just got a new job and got promoted and we don’t know how long he can stay with us.”
New Zealand, he added, is a much better team and Malaysia were lucky to win the two matches against them (friendly 3-2, and 6-4 in the pool match).
“In the 6-4 win over them in the pool match, we scored four goals in the first quarter and that caught them by surprise. But they are a good team and they are playing well. For us it is a learning process as we have several young boys. It was a good start for our boys,” he stressed.
“Our gap with New Zealand is quite far. As you can see, they are here without eight players who are currently playing for clubs in Europe. If they are here, you can see the full strength of the team.”
“We just started training during the fasting month and we have a long way to go. The good thing is the boys are committed and playing to the last whistle. That is important.”
“The team played better from the first match against Pakistan, and need to move on, work harder, make less errors. We must take our chances well. The players will also be working on improving their fitness level before heading to Poland,” said Sarjit.
