No medal, and chinks exposed

MALAYSIA will return without a medal from the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, but coach K. Rajan gained valuable inside information to better prepare his charges for the Junior World Cup in June 7-21.
In the bronze play-off yesterday, Malaysia lost 5-2 to Great Britain. Malaysia’s scorers were Kavin Kartik and Falzal Saari, while Britain won the bronze with goals from Kenny Bain, Martin Scanlon, Chris Gregg (2) and Simon Faulkner.
Australia won the gold when they beat India 2-1.
It was a tale of missed chances, as Malaysia took the lead in all three pool matches, but crumbles in the final minutes of every match.
Against Britain, they were five seconds from victory, but let in a silly goal and the match ended 4-4.
And against Australia, the Juniors were leading 1-0, but let in two goals in the second half to lose 2-1.
India was no different, as Malaysia matched them 3-3 at the half-time hooter, and were leading 5-3 but collapsed and the match ended 5-5.
“This is an Under-20 tournament, while the Junior World Cup is Under-21. I have 10 players who were sitting at the sidelines because they were overage for the AYOF, but will field them in the four friendlies against senior Australian sides next week.
“I am happy with the boys progress, in all the matches as they followed instructions and pressed their opponents hard. They were always snapping at their opponents, but could not sustain the pace for 70 minutes.
“I will work on their fitness further, and they should put up a good performance in the World Cup,” said Rajan.
There will be 20 teams in four groups for the World Cup, with Malaysia hosting two groups, and Singapore two groups.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) will release the groupings by the end of the month, while the qualified teams are defending champions Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Malaysia, Singapore, India, South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, England, Poland, Russia, Chile, US and New Zealand.