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Beng Hai: Difficult to meet MHF’s target


KUALA LUMPUR: Coach Tai Beng Hai readily admits that it will be no easy task to meet the Malaysian Hockey Federation’s (MHF) target to win the Champions Challenge II tournament, which will be held in Dublin from July 6-12.

He said that Malaysia had not won any international tournaments of note other than the SEA Games and the target added pressure on the players.

“We realise that this is expected of us since the world rankings put us as the second seeds. We have to take one step at a time and go forward,” he said.

In the eight-team tournament, Malaysia will open their campaign in Group B against Austria on July 6. Their other group matches are against France (July 7) and Russia (July 9). Group A comprises Japan, Chile, Poland and Ireland.

The Japanese, who are ranked two rungs above Malaysia at No. 14 in the world, are the top seeds.

The top two teams from each group qualify for the crossover semi-finals, which will be played on July 11. The final is slated for July 12.

“It will not be easy. We have to first ensure that we get to the semi-finals. For many of the players, it will be a new experience to start as favourites,” said Beng Hai.

“We beat Japan 4-1 in the Asia Cup but we cannot get carried away with this result. I am sure the other teams like France and Ireland will also be among the contenders.”

The team left for Ireland on Sunday night and they will have two friendly matches against the hosts ahead of the tournament.

The Champions Challenge II is a new tournament under the International Hockey Federation (FIH) calendar of events. It offers ranking points and the winners will gain promotion to the Champions Challenge next year.

For Malaysia, raking in higher ranking points is important as it will help in their seedings for the World Cup qualifying tournaments in November.

Malaysia are among 18 teams vying for places in the 2010 World Cup Finals in India next year from three qualifying tournaments.

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