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Close shave for team manager Mirnawan Nawawi in New Delhi..
THE national juniors had a fantastic acclimatation practice in the three-test series against India at the World Cup
venue, and lost narowly 2-1 to the potential medallists at the Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi on Monday night.
Coach K. Dharmaraj's side lost all three matches, but there was improvement in every department in the 4-2, 4-3
and then the one-goal defeat in the last match.
The team are in their final phase of preparations for the World Cup, on Dec 6-15, where they are grouped with
England, New Zealand and South Africa in Group D.
India, Netherlands, South Korea and Canada are in Group C, and the hosts are potential cross-over opponents in
the quarter-finals stage.
"In the last match, the boys did not conceede any penalty corners, and won five instead. But again, poor shooting
in the semi-circle was the bane, while India were sharp with the handful of chances that came their way," said team
manager Mirnawan Nawawi.
The venue acclimation provided the players an opportunity to get used to the pitch lighting, as well as the bouncy
condition of the pitch.
"The ball bounces differently on Pitch I, and also Pitch II, and the players finally got adjusted to the conditions in
the third test, but a late surge from India denied Malaysia a well-deserved draw. Also, the lighting is very different
from what we have in Malaysia, especially when the players look up to stop overhead balls. But after three matches,
the players now know what to expect when they play there again during the World Cup," said Mirnawan.
Ramandeep Singh gave India the lead in the 18th minute, but Haziq Samsol scored a field goal to equalise in the
65th minute. However, Malak Singh scored the winner for his side in the 67th minute.
India fielded the Sultan of Johor Cup gold medal side, with only three changes. Malaysia were soundly beaten 3-0
then, but have shown improvement in the three-test series.
There was some good play by the Malaysian side, only to lose out on poor shooting. An example to moot was in
the second half when Fitri Shaari penetrate the middle of the field and beat three Indian defenders, after which he
released the ball to Shahril Saabah whose deflection was just inches wide.
"A few decisions of the umpire were suspect especially in the semi-circle, however with the video referral
available during the World Cup, that would no longer be an issue," said Mirnawan.
"Overall it was the best performance as Malaysian denied India any penalty coorners in 70 minutes, and the only
difference between both sides was that the Indian players are more clinical the semi circle, as well as a superb
display by their goalkeeper to deny Malaysia's five penalty corner attempts," said Mirnawan.
There was a penalty shoot-out practice after the match, which India won 3-1.
MALAYSIAN juniors improved yet again in the second test against India, when they lost 4-3 at the Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday night.
The first test saw then go down 4-2, and coach K. Dharmaraj’s boys lost out on penalty corner defending in the second test.
Malaysia are in New Delhi to not only get a feel of the World Cup venue, from Dec 6-15, but also spar against their possible quarter-finals opponent.
India, the Sultan of Johor Cup champions after they beat Malaysia 3-0 at the Taman Daya Stadium, are in the cross-over group for Malaysia in the World Cup.
The other teams which Malaysia might meet in the last eight are The Netherlands, South Korea and Canada -- who make up Group C.
Malaysia are in Group D with England, New Zealand and South Africa.
“There was more improvement in our side, but two matters are still a bother. One is penalty corner defending, as India scored two, while the second is to sharpen the forwards finishing.
“And we are looking to tighten the two areas in our last test today,” said Dharmaraj.
Malaysia had five penalty corners and scored two, while India only had three and converted two.
Meor Azuan scored a field goal in the 19th minute, while
Zulhairi Hashim scored off penalty corner flicks in the 23rd and 61st minutes.
The India goals were scored by Affan Yousuf (35th), Gurjinder Singh (40th), Sukhmanjit Singh (47th) and Mandeep Singh (49th).
Malaysia took a 2-0 lead, but gave India the break just as the half-time hooter blew: “In the 31st min Syamin Yusof received a green card and India took the imbalance opportunity to narrow the gap. It resulted from a miss-trap by Shazril Irwan at the top of the semi-circle, and Affan Yousuf collected the ball and coolly slotted home.
“That is the kind of play which we cant’ afford in the World Cup, and I will drill it into my players mind,” said Dharmaraj.
And a case of blunt strikes was Syamin Yusof, who had a chance to level the score in 68th mins with only the India goalkeeper to beat but yet again, he shot wide.
THE Malaysian men’s hockey team finally won a match in the International Super Series Hockey 9s at the Perth Hockey Stadium in Australia, when they edged Pakistan 2-1 to finish third.
Azlan Misron (17th) and Izwan Firdaus (26th) scored while the Pakistan goal was delivered by Muhammad Arsian (29th).
In the pool stages, the Malaysian men lost 5-3 to Pakistan, lost 8-0 to Australia, and lost 3-0 to Argentina.
The women, however, finish last in the four-team tournament and they were whipped 8-0 by Australia, 10-1 by Argentina and 4-1 by Canada. In the placing match yesterday, they again lost to Canada 3-1.
Australia became the men’s and women’s champions when they beat Argentina 9-4, and also Argentina 3-0 respectively.
The Malaysian men are making their debut in the tournament, which has a totally different format than regular hockey.
Teams are only allowed to field nine players, instead of 11, the goalpost is wider, and the match is played in 20-minute halves instead of the usual 35 minutes.
Malaysian coach Paul Revington said he could feel the result coming, before the match started, after going through a tough week adjusting to the Hockey 9s format.
“With the group of players that we have assembled in Perth, obviously we had hoped for more wins from game one to game four.
“There had to be a level of improvement and while we’re improving we still wanted to win games and I think today (classification) we put certain ingredients together and that resulted in our win.”
Revington felt the Hockey 9s format provided important benefits for the growth of the Malaysian side.
“There is more space versus an 11-a-side game which means you need to organise more, you need to run more and you need to work more as a group.
“Those ingredients is with what we’re trying to do for Malaysian hockey while building a bigger pool of training squad. This tournament has been very good for us,” said Revington on the Australian Hockey Federation website.
MALAYSIAN juniors lost 4-2 to World Cup hosts India at the Mejar Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in New Delhi on Friday night, but there was an overall improvement in their approach and attitude.
The juniors, in Group D with New Zealand, South Africa and England, are on a three-match tour of India to familiarise themselves with the World Cup venue, which will see 16 teams battle from Dec 6-15.
According to team manager Mirnawan Nawawi, there was vast improvement from the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup, where Malaysia were beaten 3-0 by India.
“Overall, it was a fantastic opportunity for us not only to get a feel of the World Cup venue, but also spar with India who might just be our opponents if we make the quarter-finals,” said Mirnawan.
The other likely last-eight opponents, from Group C, are the Netherlands. Also in Group C are South Korea and Canada.
India fielded 90 per cent of the players who won gold in in the Sultan of Johor Cup and took a 3-0 lead off Gurjinder Singh (second minute), Talwinder Singh (11th) and Amir Khan (35th).
Malaysia narrowed the gap off Shahril Saabah (40th) before India nailed their fourth off Gurjinder (45th).
The second Malaysian goal, also off a penalty corner attempt, was scored by Zulhairi Hashim in the 51st minute.
“The players struggled to get used to the field conditions as it was slippery and a little bumpy. The players controlled the match well but India were more deadly in the semi-circle.
“And after India took the early lead, off their first penalty corner, Syamin Yusof and Rashid Baharom created very good chances to equalise in 10th and 18th minutes but their shots were well saved by the Indian goalkeeper,” said Mirnawan.
The juniors will play their second match today, and wrap-up the series on Monday.
Super 9s Australia: Malaysian men lost 3-0 to Argentina while the women lost 4-1 to Canada.
