The Asia Cup semis at the very least

By T.N. Alagesh

TENGKU Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the Malaysian Hockey Federation
president, said he would be sad and upset if the national team failed to
make it to the semi-finals of the 2009 Asia Cup which begins in Kuantan
on Saturday.
  Tengku Abdullah feels that if the team failed to achieve their target,
it would ruin their hopes to put on a solid performance in front of the
home crowd as well as improve on their world ranking.
  He said the tournament was not only to contest against the best hockey
teams in Asia but also acts as a platform for the national team to
improve on their standing and their game.
  "I have trust in the players and believe they will be able to execute
the given task for this tournament, especially after all the hard work
and time spent by the team led by coach Tai Beng Hai during training," he
said after hosting a dinner for the national senior and junior hockey
teams at Istana Abdul Aziz in Kuantan on Monday.
  "I want the players to make the most of every scoring opportunity they
get and also put on an impressive display during this Asia Cup outing."
  Tengku Abdullah also stressed on concentration and that the players
must not lose their focus, especially in the last 10 minutes of the
match, which he believes is the critical time in deciding the outcome.
Any lapse of concentration during this vital period could provide an
opportunity for the opponents to score.
  The MHF has set a top four target for Malaysia in the competition,
which was won by India in 2007.
  The champions will qualify automatically for next year's World Cup in
New Delhi. The second-to-fifth placed teams in the Asia Cup will compete
in the World Cup Qualifiers in October and November.
  The groupings - Group A: South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh;
Group B: India, Pakistan, China.