Commitment and consistency lacking in team, says Sarjit

Coach Sarjit Singh is looking at his players giving full commitment and consistent performances in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, which begins today in Ipoh.

These were the two qualities lacking in the players during the Olympic qualifying tournament in Japan last month. Malaysia, who were ranked 14th in the world, started off well by defeating Poland 2-1 but settled for a 4-4 draw against 33rd ranked Italy in the next match.

They went on to finish third in the six-nation tournament and the sole ticket on offer to the Beijing Games went to Germany, who defeated Japan in the final.

Sarjit said that in the tournament in Ipoh, he did not want to see a repeat of the same mistakes from the players.



“The Olympic qualifying tournament was an eye opener to the players,” he said.

“I also want the players to stay alert until the final minute of every game in the Sultan Azlan tournament. We have lost matches in the dying minutes because of lapses in concentration. We cannot afford to let this happen if we hope to reach the final.”

Sarjit added that the tournament was important for the team because it also served as preparation for the Asia Cup next year, which is a qualifying event for the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi.

Malaysia will open their campaign against Pakistan today. The other teams in the fray are Argentina, Canada, Belgium, Pakistan, India and New Zealand. Four of the teams – Canada, Belgium, Pakistan and New Zealand – will feature in the Beijing Olympics.

“Pakistan are here with their full squad. Matches against them have been closely contested and I expect the same tomorrow,” said Sarjit from Ipoh yesterday.

Malaysia played against Pakistan twice in the Champions Trophy last December.

The preliminary round match ended in a 2-2 draw and in the playoff for the seventh place, Pakistan scored a golden goal to win the match after a 2-2 deadlock in regulation time.

Influential forwards Rehan Butt and Shakel Abbasi will lead Pakistan team in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament.

Sarjit said that both the players were very skilful and he hoped that his defenders would be able to mark them tightly.

“The MHF (Malaysian Hockey Federation) have set a target for us to reach the final and we definitely need a good result against Pakistan to boost the players' confidence,'' he said.

Sarjit added that they would definitely miss the services of defender and penalty corner specialist S. Kuhan, who is still nursing a groin injury suffered during the Olympic qualifiers.

“However, I hope Jiwa (Mohan), who scored three penalty corner goals in Japan, will be able to able to do deliver again in Ipoh,'' he said.

Megat Azrafiq Megat Termizi, who missed the qualifiers in Japan because of a shin injury, will be back to marshal the defence.

In the final last year, Malaysia lost 1-3 to Australia.

TODAY

INDIA vs NEW ZEALAND 4pm

ARGENTINA vs BELGIUM 6pm

PAKISTAN vs MALAYSIA 8pm

TOMORROW

CANADA vs BELGIUM 4pm

PAKISTAN vs NEW ZEALAND 6pm

ARGENTINA vs INDIA 8pm