KUALA LUMPUR – Head coach Arul Selvaraj has taken the blame for the national men’s hockey team’s horrendous outing at the Asian Games.
Arul said that the team did not live up to expectations despite excelling in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and the Asian Championship trophy before the Hangzhou Asiad.
“We, as a team, are extremely disappointed with our run in this tournament as we really had high expectations for the Asian Games after performing well in the previous tournaments.
“As the head coach, I will take full responsibility for our poor performance in this tournament.
“I will not point fingers at anyone for our current form because the Malaysian Hockey Confederation, National Sports Council and the National Sports Institute have provided us with everything we need for the betterment of our performance.
“Improvement is within our control, and it depends on how much we want to qualify for the Olympics.
“We must rise to the occasion. This very team was in the Asian Champions Trophy final just five weeks ago.
“The players need to improve, which means we need to train really hard for the Olympic qualifiers,” Arul said.
Malaysia’s hopes of ending their Asian Games campaign on a positive note were shattered after a 5-2 defeat to Pakistan in the fifth and sixth-place match at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park hockey stadium today.
Malaysia’s two goals were scored by Muhammad Aminuddin Mohd Zain in the fifth minute and Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim in the 58th.
Pakistan’s goals were scored by Ahmad Arbaz (eighth), Abdul Rehman (37th), Abdul Rana (51st), Ammad Muhammad (53rd), and Afraz (59th).
Malaysia have only finished this low once since their Asiad debut in 1958, during the 2006 Games in Doha when they placed sixth after losing 4-0 to India.
As Malaysia missed out on a direct Olympic qualification slot through the Asian Games, the team’s only hope will now be centred on the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers scheduled to take place from January 15 to 21 in Oman.
The Speedy Tigers are currently ranked 10th in the FIH world rankings with 2,041.37 points.
Their best finish in the Asian Games came in the 2018 edition in Jakarta and Palembang, where they won the silver medal. – October 6, 2023