Japan edge past Malaysia in first test of five-match hockey series: 2-1 – Hockey Update
Toshiro Tachibana and Ryuji Furudato scored once apiece, as the Men’s hockey team of Japan marked a 2-1 win over Malaysia in the first test of the five-match series that took place in the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil Hockey on August 7, 2011.
The visiting team of Japan was not much better from the home squad of Malaysia, as both are getting preparations for the forthcoming first edition of the Asian Champions Trophy. It is worth mentioning here that the two teams have to play the Olympic Qualifiers
for getting a spot in the London Games.
Tai Beng Hai – the Chief Coach of the Malaysian hockey team while talking to the journalists after the match said that they showed poor defence and it was not an easy task to win the match coming from behind. He further said that they would have to put extra
efforts in the next matches.
He said, “We need to put in more effort and I will have to find ways to try and get the players back on track. These matches are important for us as it will show us where we stand and the amount of work we have to put in.”
One could not call the Malaysian performance a reasonable display. They were looking desperate and struggled in their game-plan. The visiting side did break the defensive line of home team and put them under intense pressure. The home squad showed numerous
lacks particularly in the head of passing. The Japanese strikers were not quite impressive in the field as the Malaysian players failed to take advantage and lost the game.
Both the Malaysians and Japanese squads entered into the field in quite a fantastic way. However, the visiting line-up did not wait long to establish their dominance over the scoreboard. In the third minute of the match, Toshiro Tachibana managed to get
the ball in the right flank of the goal and marked a powerful shot into the backboard. S. Kumar – the custodian from Malaysia did not find any chance to stop the ball.
Soon after the couple of minutes, the home side received a short corner and tested Mohammed Amin but to no avail. After missing few chances, Faisal Saari managed to drive the ball at the top of the circle and volleyed a powerful shot at the goal in the 26th
minute of the match and had it all even at one-each.
The pace of the game became quite slow and the ball mostly remained in the mid-field position. In the 47th minute of the mark, Ryuji Furudato received a pass and converted it into a successful goal. It was the final action from them and Japan
won the first game 2-1.
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