Skip to main content

AZLAN SHAH CUP: Time Lady Luck sided Malaysia

COMING GOOD: Hosts looking to upset big names to prove they are still world class

Fitri Saari is showing signs that he will be the next Malaysian player to watch.
Fitri Saari is showing signs that he will be the next Malaysian player to watch.

MALAYSIA'S world ranking does not reflect their true strength, as the unlucky 13th came about after a string of misfortunes and near-misses on the world stage.

Defeats in the Invercargill World Cup Qualifier to New Zealand (2-1) and against Pakistan (2-0) in the Asian Games sealed the senior team's fate.

And it was further compounded when they failed at the Dublin Olympic Qualifier as Malaysia handed the final ticket to South Korea on a 3-2 defeat.

New Zealand advanced to the World Cup, Pakistan to the Olympics and South Korea also to the Olympics -- courtesy of Malaysia's "well known hospitality" on the artificial pitch.

As a result, Malaysia will be stuck at unlucky 13th, as only teams who play in the World Cup, Olympics and Champions Trophy can break into the top-10 ranking.

In the ongoing Azlan Shah Cup, Malaysia yet again showed they have the stomach to challenge the best, but it is of no use.

The tournament does not offer International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings as it is an Invitational which has survived 21 editions.

Britain, fourth, are followed by sixth-ranked South Korea, New Zealand (7th), Pakistan (8th), Argentina, (9th) and India (10th) as all of them have qualified for the Olympics and are assured of no lower than 12th after the tournament ends on July 27.

That is why the 1-1 draw against South Korea and the come-from-behind 3-3 draw against Britain should not be taken lightly but as a positive sign that Malaysia are on the rise.

The 3-2 defeat to India on Monday was also riddled with a tale of near-misses as Faizal Saari was on one of his "off" days.

The 20-year-old, who helped Malaysia win the Junior Asia Cup by scoring six goals, has placed more established strikers like Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Marhan Jalil and Hafifi Hafiz in the shade.

And his brother Fitri is also showing signs that he will be the next Malaysian player to watch.
Malaysia still have matches against Pakistan, New Zealand and Argentina with nine points at stake and must continue playing like they did against India.

The unlucky 13th might just turn out to be their lucky number in the Azlan Shah Cup if the three remaining opponents believe too much in rankings.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
12 comments
Read more

Badminton: Fans rooting for all-Malaysian semis

Reports: RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The home fans will be rooting for an all-Malaysian men’s singles semi-final between Lee Chong Wei and Liew Daren. But Chong Wei is more fancied to advance than Daren in quarter-final matches against Indonesian Simon Santoso and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen respectively at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Yesterday, Chong Wei defeated Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh 21-9, 18-21, 21-7 in a second-round match that saw the world number one struggling to adapt to the draught in the stadium in the second game. And Daren continued a fairy tale run in his home Open, blowing away a toothless Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan 21-14, 21-12. Although Choong Wei had to slog for the win over Tien Minh, the top seed and defending champion felt that he was playing better by the day. “I got off to a good start but found it hard to cope with the draught. I tried to catch up after losing my momentum but that did not happen and I decided to conserve energy for ...
11 comments
Read more

Khairy Pertikai Keputusan FAM Beri Hak Tuan Rumah Kepada Pahang

KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Mei (Bernama) -- Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin mempertikaikan keputusan Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM) memberi hak tuan rumah kepada Persatuan Bola Sepak Pahang (PBNP) bagi perlawanan tertunda separuh akhir kedua Piala FA antara Pahang dan Johor Darul Takzim di Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil, esok. Ini kerana, katanya persatuan itu telah gagal menjamin keselamatan pada perlawanan yang sepatutnya berlangsung di Stadium Darul Makmur, Selasa lepas. "Kutipan hasil yang patut diberikan kepada Pahang sebagai tuan rumah tak boleh lebih daripada kapasiti Stadium Darul Makmur iaitu 10,000 sedangkan kapasiti di Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil adalah lebih besar iaitu 80,000. "Pahang tidak layak mendapat hasil kutipan jualan tiket lebih dari 10,000 kerana mereka telah dikenakan tindakan denda tapi FAM bagi keuntungan lebih kepada PBNP. Ini tidak masuk akal," katanya. Beliau berkata demikian kepada pemberita selepas melaku...
9 comments
Read more