Preview: Hockey semi-final; Malaysia versus India
Malaysia, who has won six bronze medals in the Asian Games hockey event, will play India in the semi-final of 16th Asian Games, and has a great chance to create history by qualifying for final. The semi-final between India and Malaysia will be a tough match,
since both teams are unbeaten in the tournament so far.
If we compare the two squads, India seems to be in a better position than Malaysia. India ended up with a tally of 12 points after winning all its league games, while Malaysia finished with 10 points after drawing one of their group games against South Korea.
India defeated Hong Kong 7-0, Bangladesh 9-0, Pakistan 3-2 and Japan 3-2. While Malaysia overpowered Singapore 3-0, Oman 12-2, China 4-2 and drew 2-2 with South Korea.
India has a wonderful track record in international hockey, as it has won eight Olympic gold medals, two Asian Games gold medals, two Asia Cup titles and a World Cup trophy in 1975. The Indian hockey squad put in a brilliant performance this year and won
the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Malaysia has not won any major hockey title thus far, however they have given an excellent of themselves at the Asian Games.
In last two games between the teams, India defeated Malaysia 3-2 score in the World Cup, while Malaysia overpowered India 5-3 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year. So there isn’t much to choose between the sides, and both teams will be determined
to get through to the final.
The Indian hockey team will have to improve its defence in the semi-final. Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chetri and full-back Sardar Singh will have to improve their performances, while Dhananjay, Mahadik, Danish Mujtaba and Sandeep Singh will also have to support
the defenders.
In the last two games against Pakistan and Japan India’s defence was deficient, and if they wanted to if they want to progress further in the tournament, they will have to learn from their mistakes.
The plus-point for the Indian side is the red-hot form of Sandeep Singh, who is also the tournament’s highest scorer so far. He has played a vital role in the Indian teams impressive run to the semi-finals.
India’s forwards will also have to get their act together. The strikers have to be sharp, as Malaysia’s goal keeper Kumar Subramaniam is also in good form.
The Malaysian defence, lead by skipper Madzli Ikmar will provide a tough test for the Indian strikers. Malaysia is pinning all its hopes on strikers Hafifihafiz Hanafi and Azlan Misron in the semi-final against India.
Malaysia’s coach, Stephen van Huizen, who is expecting a strong performance from his team, said that they could not afford to miss scoring opportunities in the semi-final. He added that though the team had performed well in the league matches, they have
a tough task ahead of them in defending against India’s strikers and short corner specialists.
Commenting on the Word Cup performance, Stephen said, “It was a harsh experience in the World Cup. We played well and took the lead twice but we allowed them to come back and beat us. We will ensure that we will not practice same mistakes in the semi-final.”
Jose Brasa, the coach of Indian Hockey team, was of the view that they are not expecting a tough fight from the Malaysian team. He said, “All the semi-finalists will try to get into the final because there is also a place in London Olympics at stake here.
The Indian team needs to be mentally strong to overcome Malaysia.”
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