Asia Cup : Yahya’s charges need full points in opening tie against Japanese

Malaysia will have to collect full points in the opening Group A match against Japan today if they hope to finish among the top-four in the 5th Junior Asia Cup women’s hockey tournament at the Seremban II Hockey Stadium.

The other teams in the group are defending champions China, Pakistan and Thailand.

National coach Yahya Atan said that he has set a top-four target for Malaysia four in the nine-team tournament.

Three-time champions South Korea, India, Taiwan and Singapore are drawn in Group B.

“Japan are a strong side but with all the hard training and home ground advantage, I believe we can beat them. A win over Japan will put us in a good position to reach the semi-finals meet our target,’’ said Yahya.

Malaysia’s next match is against China on Monday, followed by Pakistan on Wednesday and Thailand on Thursday.

The tournament, which ends on Dec 21, offers three places to the 2009 Junior World Cup Finals in Boston scheduled from Aug 3-18.

TODAY'S MATCHES Malaysia vs Japan (4pm) Singapore vs India (6pm) Pakistan vs Thailand (8pm)