Malaysia drawn in tough group for Asian Cup

The national men's hockey team have been drawn in a tough group of the Asian Cup in Chennai from Sept 1-9.

Malaysia are drawn in Group A with Doha Asian Games champions and runners-up South Korea and China respectively. The other teams in the group are Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Group B comprises India, Japan, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Thailand.

Pakistan, which finished third in the Doha Games, have pulled out of the tournament.

National coach Sarjit Singh lamented the draw, saying, "Our target was to do well in the tournament to improve our world ranking so that we would get a favourable draw for the Olympic qualifier next year."

Drawing against the Koreans and China has made that job tougher, he said.

Sarjit, who guided the national team to the runner-up spot in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in Ipoh in May, is expected to name the team one week after the TNB-Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) ends on July 28.