Still with a chance

After 2 big defeats, the national Hockey team has its backs against the wall.

There is still an opportunity to make the World Cup despite the two defeats but the situation becomes a bit more complex.

Still the fate of the team lies in their own hands and only they can determine their destiny.

At present Malaysia have a -7 goal difference with Korea at -4, both teams with no points on the board.

The two play each other on Monday, a win for either will put them in the Drivers seat while a draw could spell disaster for Malaysia.

In the final matches, Korea will play England while China take on Malaysia.

So if Malaysia wins their last two matches, they sail into the last eight and into the World Cup.

A Korean win means we need to beat China, and goal difference might come into play.

However England might not field their best against Korea if they know by tonight their fate after the match against Argentina in order to preserve for their lady eight matches.

Bottom line is this - all is not lost, well not yet and even if we do not defeat a Korea, there is still an outside chance.

And then again even if we do not make it through to the World Cup, there is always the Asia Cup in Dhaka this October to make the cut.

So now back to the team, what has gone wrong so far?

Firstly we should drop this mentality of 50 yard Defence as its counter productive.

We have players with skill and superior fitness to match the best as evident in the two 30 minute performances against Argentina and England.

We have scored four goals ( whether direct or as a result) of penalty corners, totalling 10 in the two matches.

It's conceding penalty corners that we need to work on as we concede goals far too easily .

Our midfield is virtually non existent in the two matches and players in this department need to increase their work rate.

Loose marking has always been an issue and it no different this time around, just too many players switching off at crucial moments.

China went in a 45 day playing tour of Europe to prepare for this tournament but we were happy to train at home and play only three warm up matches prior to the tournament.

So missing out on playing top class opponents over the past two years, minus the two Azlan Shah Cup matches has somewhat affected the sharpness and precision of the team against higher ranked teams.

Rankings in reality mean nothing as we are good enough to be amongst the top 10 in the world , but for some bad luck in crucial matches.

Let's leave the bad luck behind, give it one final push and regain Malaysian Hockey glory.

It's now or never, sorry there is still Dhaka.

Seven Up

THE LONDON DISPATCH

The English goals came early in the first and third quarters while the Malaysians put up some form of a fight in the second.

But in the end the quality of the teams told and Malaysia were handed a 3-7 drubbing by England.

That defeat although expected may well cost them dearly in the later stages of the tournament.

If Malaysia were hoping for a good start to overcome their Argentina defeat, it never materialised.

Instead the English were in such form that by the eight minute they had a 2-0 lead.

Barry Middleton and Christopher Griffiths struck in the fifth and eighth minutes of field goals to put them in a commanding position in the match.

Malaysia’s third penalty corner in the 19th minute proved fruitful.

Mohamed Razie Rahim took the initial shot but his attempt hit the defender on the goal line. A penalty stroke was awarded and Faizal  Saari duly converted it for the first goal.

This spurred the Malaysians and in the 28th minute they had their fourth penalty corner. This time Faizal took the flick and his initial shot was blocked by goalkeeper George pinner.

 But Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin who was near the goalkeeper managed to slot home from close range the rebound for the equaliser.

But the third quarter proved a major disaster for the Malaysians as they made several defensive lapses to gift the English easy goals.

In the 32nd minute, England earned their first penalty corner and Sam Ward flicked the ball home to put them in the lead again.

Disaster struck for the Malaysians two minutes later with Barry scoring his second off a field attempt.

England led 4-2.

And another blunder followed in the 39th minute as Mark Glerghorne scored with a field attempt.

Mark was again on target in the 55th minute while Sam scored his second goal in the 51st minute.

Faizal managed to pull back a goal for Malaysia in the 57th minute.

National coach Stephen van Huizen said that the early goals killed them off.

“But nothing has changed. We are still in the running although the task seemed a little harder now considering that Korea lost to China.

“we will regroup and get ready for the Koreans game on Monday,” he said.

Earlier China stunned the hockey world when they destroyed former Asian champions South Korea 5-2 in an upset in Group A.

The Koreans who had lost 1-2 to Argentina on Thursday were expected to bounce back and take full points. But the Chinese had other ideas and they recorded one of their better results against the Koreans.

The Chinese goal came from Su Lixing, Su Jun (two), E Liguang and Guo Zixiang.

For the Koreans Yang Jihun and Hwang Weonki were on target.

The Koreans like Malaysia are facing a major hurdle. Both have lost their two opening matches and another defeat could jeopardise their quarterfinal chances.

Thus when they meet on Monday it will be a must win situation.

For China the result put them in a good position to qualify for their first World Cup. They have one defeat which they lost 0-2 to England.

The next group A matches will put the qualifiers in the correct perspective.

Meanwhile India also virtually booked its quarterfinal berth after an easy 3-0 win over Canada in Group B.

A day earlier Argentina had already secured a spot form Group B after their second win.

Canada went into the match after a 6-0 drubbing of Pakistan. Many would have thought that they would have given India a tough fight.

But Canada with their win over Pakistan has a good chance of making it as they have Scotland to play.

S. V Sunil scored the opening goal for the Indians while Akashdeep Singh and Sardar Singh added the other two goals early in the match.

After that the Indians went through the motions to collect full points and lead the table in Group B with six points.

Indian coach Roelant Oltmans said that it was an important win for the team as it kept the momentum going.

“We had a good game and it is always good to start with two wins. The quarter finals is still some days away and our focus is on the next match. Let us not get ahead of the task,” he said.

Opening defeat for Malaysia

Dispatch from London

There was no surprise as Malaysia opened their World Hockey League Semi Final campaign on a losing note.

They were comprehensively beaten 5-2 by reigning Olympic Champions Argentina in their first match.

For the top seeded Argentina , the win was their second in the tournament and they have virtually sealed their place in the quarter-finals with two matches to spare having won 2-1 against South Korea the previous day.

Malaysia however has another tough encounter today (Saturday) when they play host England.

They will need to recover fast and have a new game plan to counter the English.

Yesterday the Malaysians gave a Dr Jekyll and Hyde performance where they took the game to the South Americans in the first half. But then capitulated in the second for a big defeat.  

National skipper Mohamed Shukri Mutalib said that they had a good game plan but their mistakes in giving away penalty corners proved fatal.

Argentine hitman Gonzalo Peillat scored four goals to destroy them.

“We could have taken a point had we been more careful. We perhaps gave them too much respect. We have to recover fast and get ready for England. The players know how important the next match is. So we will be ready to give our best,” said Shukri.

The World Number One started off strongly with an early goal in the fourth minute off their effective penalty corner flick.

But the goal only served to rally the Malaysians and they came back with goals of their own.

Twice the Argentines took the lead in the first half and each time the Malaysians equalised.

The Argentine penalty corner expert Gonzalo Peillat scored the early goals for his team in the fourth and 11th minute from penalty corners that Malaysians had no answer to.

For Malaysia a Shahril Saabah field goal in the seventh minute and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin off a penalty corner deflection in the 18th minute was enough to keep the score 2-2 at half time.

Peillat was again on target in the 40th minute from another penalty corner.  That turned the match in their favour.

He sealed the match in the 47th minute with another penalty corner while Facundo Calioni added the fifth in the 49th minute.

Malaysia had five penalty corners in the match but only managed one goal while Argentina scored four from the six penalty corners they were awarded.

The top four finishers in London will qualify for the eight nation Odisha Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar, India, although there is a small caveat to this. 

If India, the host nation of the Final, do not finish in the top four then only the top three teams in London will qualify. They will be joined by the top three finishers from the Semi-Final competition in Johannesburg, South Africa, plus the highest ranked fourth place finisher from the two Semi-Final events.

When it comes to qualification for the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, there are five automatic berths available here in London, although this will increase depending on the outcomes of the upcoming Continental Championships, which are also World Cup qualification events.

A humiliating defeat for Pakistan.

A dispatch from London

Pakistan are looking at a quick exit from Group B after another disappointing performance.

On Friday they found the going tough when Canada pulled out all stop to beat them 6-0 in a rare display of attacking hockey against a former giant.

For Pakistan it was their second defeat in the tournament. On Thursday in their opening match they fell 1-4 to Holland.

The Pakistanis still have a chance to salvage their pride and also seek a place in the quarter finals if they can beat India or Scotland in their remaining matches.

Only the top four teams form the group will advance to the last eight.

It was one of the worst performance by a Pakistani team who failed to put up any show of resistance against the world number 10.

No doubt the Pakistanis are three rungs below the Canadians but the score line suggest a big gulf in standard.

Scott Tupper (4), Iain Smythe (23, 24), Foris von Son (28), Brendan Bissett (50) and Gordan Johnson (60) were the goal scorers.

Pakistan coach K. M. Junaid was loss for words in what he described as their worst result for the team against the Canadians.

“I do not know what to say and I also fail to understand how we missed so many chances at goal.

“You do not win matches if you do not score goals. We had the right strategy but the kissed made it difficult for us. This is a personal embarrassment for me” he said after the game 

“Now we have a difficult task in the last two matches butb there is no choice but to stand up and deliver. It is unthinkable not to make the quarterfinals, “ he said.

Pakistan play India on Sunday

A humiliating defeat for Pakistan.

A dispatch from London

Pakistan are looking at a quick exit from Group B after another disappointing performance.

On Friday they found the going tough when Canada pulled out all stop to beat them 6-0 in a rare display of attacking hockey against a former giant.

For Pakistan it was their second defeat in the tournament. On Thursday in their opening match they fell 1-4 to Holland.

The Pakistanis still have a chance to salvage their pride and also seek a place in the quarter finals if they can beat India or Scotland in their remaining matches.

Only the top four teams form the group will advance to the last eight.

It was one of the worst performance by a Pakistani team who failed to put up any show of resistance against the world number 10.

No doubt the Pakistanis are three rungs below the Canadians but the score line suggest a big gulf in standard.

Scott Tupper (4), Iain Smythe (23, 24), Foris von Son (28), Brendan Bissett (50) and Gordan Johnson (60) were the goal scorers.

Pakistan coach K. M. Junaid was loss for words in what he described as their worst result for the team against the Canadians.

“I do not know what to say and I also fail to understand how we missed so many chances at goal.

“You do not win matches if you do not score goals. We had the right strategy but the kissed made it difficult for us. This is a personal embarrassment for me” he said after the game 

“Now we have a difficult task in the last two matches butb there is no choice but to stand up and deliver. It is unthinkable not to make the quarterfinals, “ he said.

Pakistan play India on Sunday