HANGZHOU, Oct 6 — The national men’s hockey team ended their 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games campaign in sixth place after losing 5-2 to Pakistan in the fifth-sixth classification match at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium here today.
Coach A. Arul Selvaraj’s team, who are ranked 10th in the world, drew first blood when defender Muhammad Aminuddin Mohd Zain found the net off a penalty corner setpiece in the fifth minute.
However, their joy was shortlived as Pakistan levelled the scores just three minutes later through a penalty corner goal by Ahmad Arbaz.
After a goalless second quarter, Pakistan edged 2-1 ahead through another penalty corner goal, this time by Abdul Rehman in the 37th minute.
The final quarter saw Pakistan shoot into a 4-1 lead through a field goal by Abdul Rana in the 51st minute and a penalty corner goal by Ammad Muhammad two minutes later.
Although the Speedy Tigers, as the Malaysian men’s hockey team are known, managed to narrow the deficit to 2-4 in the dying minutes of the game through a penalty corner goal by Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim, Pakistan sealed a comfortable 5-1 through a field goal by Afraz.
Malaysia will now try to seal a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics via the qualifiers in Muscat, Oman, from January 15-21.
Meanwhile, head coach Arul Selvaraj has taken full responsibility for the Speedy Tigers’ disappointing performance and results in the quadrennial Games.
He also refused to blame any other parties for the failure, saying he had received all the necessary support from the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), National Sports Council (NSC) and National Sports Institute (NSI).
“Disappointed with our performance... we had high expectations because over the past two years we could see an improvement in our results in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and so on.
“We also moved up to ninth in the (world) standings and we could see the capability (of the Speedy Tigers), but here (at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games), there was only disappointment,” he said in a video clip shared with reporters today.
He said he would carry out a comprehensive post-mortem to ensure a more clinical version of the Speedy Tigers turn up at the 2024 Paris Olympics Qualifiers next January. — Bernama
