Azlan Cup :: Defeat by India exposes Malaysia’s lack of game variety

Malaysia’s 0-3 defeat by India in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here on Wednesday brought home some harsh realities to the team.

It showed that at the top level, Malaysia still lack variety in their play and also in the set pieces. And coach Tai Beng Hai admitted that they were yet near to finding a comprehensive playing combination.

“I only have this team for about three months. So we have some way to go. We lost to India but we get to learn in matches like this. We cannot be predictable in how we play,” he said.

Malaysia, with six points from three matches, are still in contention for a place in the final on Saturday. They have to beat New Zealand tomorrow in their final round-robin fixture to qualify.

Beng Hai added that they had to look for more penalty corner options as their usual drag flick had become too predictable.

“Our drag flick needs to be done faster and more accurately and it is important to add more options,” he said.

“Mohamed Amin Rahim is the main flicker. Engku Abdul Malek provides one option with a direct hit. We are working on other variations and we will test their effectiveness in matches here.”

In three matches thus far, Malaysia scored seven goals and let in six. They defeated Pakistan (3-2) and Egypt (4-1). Only one goal came from a field attempt by Mohamed Shahrun Nabil in the match against Pakistan. Amin scored with two direct flicks while Engku Malek made one with a direct hit. The others were from penalty corner deflections by Chua Boon Huat (2) and Azlan Misron.

“I think we are steadily developing a certain style of play and the players need more matches to get comfortable with it,” said Beng Hai.

“We have a few players more back in KL, who have yet to recover fully from injuries. I feel we will have more options when they return. But they can only expect to be back if they are fit. The current players have showed good commitment and I am sure they will fight hard to keep their places in the team. This is good, healthy competition in the team.”

Among the players left out of the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament are Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Megat Azrafiq Megat Termizi and Radzie Abdul Rahim.

The priority tournament for the team is the Asia Cup in Kuantan from May 9-16 where the champions get a place in the World Cup Finals in India next year and the next four go into qualifying tournaments in November.

Malaysia are in Group A with South Korea, Japan and Oman and Group B has India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

“We need to keep working harder on our the game. As long as the players understand their roles, we can continue to go forward,” said Beng Hai.