IPOH – National head coach Sarjit Singh openly acknowledges Japan’s fine run at the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
The 61-year-old coach, who was hired by the Malaysia Hockey Confederation on a two-year contract, stressed that his charges are in danger of being in the same tournament as the world number 16 side.
The Samurai’s have so far scored a total of six goals and conceded two goals in their opening two matches against South Korea and New Zealand.
With the Speedy Tigers’ world ranking recently dropping from 13th to 14th, Sarjit said that he does not want to bother much about the rankings and aims to emulate Japan’s seriousness in developing a strong team for the future.
“World rankings will keep changing every time, and I don’t really pay much attention to that. For me, it’s important for the national team to succeed in the years to come, and my job is to set up a formidable side.
“Japan is a good example that rankings don’t matter as they are serious about their goal of clinching the gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
“On top of that, they have their full squad here at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and are working towards achieving their goal, and that’s what I’m also emulating with my team.
“For them to beat a higher-ranked team like New Zealand with a score of 4-1 in this tournament was not an easy task. They are now on a fine run, and it’s dangerous for us to be playing in the same tournament with Japan, especially now,” said Sarjit during a post-match conference yesterday.
The Samurais, who are making only their second appearance at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup after the 2022 edition, fielded a team with an average age of 24 years under the tutelage of former 2006 World Cupper Yoshihiro Anai.
Japan’s best performance in the history of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was finishing fourth in the 2022 edition. They lost 5-3 to Pakistan in the playoff for the bronze medal.
The defending champions will take on New Zealand in their third match of the tournament tomorrow and will face Japan in their fourth match on May 8. – May 6, 2024