Malaysia must return to winning ways when they go into a showdown against Olympic bronze medallist and four-time champions India tomorrow in the Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China.
The Speedy Tigers’ biggest regret must be how they squandered multiple opportunities against three-time champions Pakistan that ended in a 2-2 draw, followed by a 2-4 defeat against China – ranked World No 23, in the second match.
For coach Sarjit Singh, the Speedy Tigers must quickly find the form back and get on the right track. They still have three matches left in the round-robin format – against India, Japan and Korea.
“India is one level above all the other five teams competing here. They have 10 players from the Paris Olympic bronze medal-winning side and are astute in their game,” said Sarjit.
On the tour of Europe two months ago, the Malaysians went down 1-2 against the Indians in a tightly contested match at the Zwolle Hockey Club in the Netherlands.
“They defeated China 3-0 and Japan 5-1 and are playing well. I expect it is going to be a challenging match for us against them. We must win at least two of the last three matches for a chance to stay among the top four in the table standings,” he added.
India, have a 100 per cent win record after the first two games and hold the top spot in the table with six points. China are now second on the points table with three points.
The 2021 champions, Korea, and Pakistan, hold the third and fourth spots, respectively, with each having two points from their first two games. Malaysia, with one point from two games, is in the fifth spot, while Japan is at the bottom of the ACT team rankings on goal difference despite sharing same equal points as the Malaysians.
While considering the current phase of the Speedy Tigers is all about preparing for the 2026 Asian Games, they will not be short on form and confidence when they go face-to-face against the Indians.
“The players must take responsibility for failing to score in the many chances against China. When you don’t score given the chances and make mistakes, it is difficult to win matches,” stressed Sarjit.
Even though a few key players are recovering back home, the Speedy Tigers are still a formidable team and must get off the blocks early against India and come out with positive results.