Malaysian U-18 need another victory to confirm their place in the semi-finals of Junior Asia Cup
The Malaysian junior hockey team is just one win away to qualify for the semi-final of Junior Asia Cup Hockey tournament which is being played at the Sengkang Stadium in Singapore. The Malaysians will be up against Sri Lanka in their final game at the group
stages.
The Malaysians, the finalists of the previous Junior Asia Cup, defeated China by 3-0 in their opening game of the event, while their second match against South Korea ended in a draw at score of 2-2. So it is a must win game for them to qualify for the semi-final.
On the other side the Lankans showed poor performance in both of the games they played. The islanders were defeated by South Korea by 8-0, while the Chinese beat them by 7-0.
K Gobinathan, the Malaysian coach, desired a better performance in the shape of a huge victory so that his team may top their pool and not face Pakistan, a more tough opposition, in the semi final.
“We are finalists two years ago and we definitely want to repeat that,” K Gobinathan, the coach of the Malaysian under-18 side, stated about their targets in the Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament.
“The players have not had any rest. After the three-week playing tour, they immediately featured for their respective states in the National Under-21 tournament in Johor last week. And they came straight from the Johor tournament to play in the Asia Cup,”
Gobinathan further stated about the busy recent months and the fatigue of his players because they have been playing hockey since last two months without any break.
The defending champions thrashed their opponents in their previous two games with a huge margin. The Greenshirts defeated Brunei and Taiwan by 18-0 and 17-0, respectively. The Malaysia’s main contender for topping the pool is South Korea, who is at the top
spot in the group with seven points and also has a strong goal difference with 11 goals.
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