KUALA LUMPUR — National youth hockey team manager I. Vikneswaran voiced deep concerns after the team’s defeat in the final match of the Sultan of Johor Cup, calling the loss “alarming.”
Malaysia fell to Japan 3-0 in a penalty shootout for fifth place after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
Despite initially leading 2-1 with goals from Che Nur Aqilrullah Che Mohd Khairulzi Anwar and Mohammad Harris Iskandar Osman, critical errors in the closing minutes allowed Jun Watanabe to equalise, forcing the shootout and ultimately leaving Malaysia in last place among the six teams.
“It was a match we should have won. The ball hit the post, and then we had many short corners. We had ball possession, we had everything, but at the end of the match, we made mistakes.
“Those mistakes punished us by allowing two goals in the span of three minutes. I think we need to take this loss seriously, go back, and try to investigate the causes of our weaknesses.
“We can play, we can take the lead, but in hockey, we must have sustainability. The match lasts for 60 minutes, not 59 or 50 minutes. It only ends when the whistle is blown,” said Vikneswaran.
Vikneswaran is now focused on quickly addressing these issues, as the Young Tigers have less than three weeks to prepare for the Asia Junior Hockey Championship, which begins November 26 in Muscat, Oman.
The tournament’s top six teams will secure automatic qualification for the 2025 Junior World Cup.
Drawn into Group B, Malaysia will face Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, and host nation Oman.
“There are only three weeks left before we go to Oman, and there isn’t much we can do. We saw what we could improve in this tournament; this is a world-class tournament, and you can see the level of the competing teams; they have been exposed to many things.
“So we need to use all the information we have to improve our team and make it better,” he added. — October 26, 2024