KUALA LUMPUR: At the rate things are going, Malaysia could face more humiliation in the Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia.
On Monday, world No. 13 Malaysia were stunned 4-2 by world No. 23 China in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT). The defeat was embarrassing as Malaysian hockey suffered a new low.
As China are the lowest-ranked team in the ACT, coach Sarjit Singh and his men can expect an uphill struggle in their remaining three matches.
In their opener on Sunday, Malaysia struggled against Pakistan, coming back from two goals down to salvage a draw.
The Speedy Tigers will start as the underdogs against world No. 5 and Asian Games champions India tomorrow. Malaysia play world No. 15 Japan on Thursday and South Korea on Saturday.
Former international and hockey pundit Maninderjit Singh said the defeat to China was a bitter pill to swallow for Malaysia.
"China are the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, and they play in far less tournaments compared to Malaysia.
"The total caps of the 18 Chinese playing in the ACT is 530 compared to the Malaysia team that have a total of 1,900 caps, which is almost four times more than China's.
"Malaysia also struggled against Pakistan and were lucky to escape with a point.
"There are many glaring weaknesses in the national team at the ACT. We have this syndrome of giving away goals in matches, then we chase for goals. Our penalty corner conversion rate is very poor, scoring just one of nine PCs against China.
"The national team have been having issues with the goalkeeping department since S. Kumar retired in 2020.
"The structure of their play is very predictable and there are no variations. There should be four to five different variations of play.
"The quality of the players on the bench is not as good, and they lack depth in key players. There is a lack of understanding when they reach the opponents' semi-circle.
"The only plus point is that our penalty corner defence is quite good. However, Malaysia can still qualify for the semi-finals if they get at least one win and one draw in the next three matches.
"It will be tough to get a point from India, but Malaysia should get points from Japan and South Korea.
"Japan are playing the modern game which is fast and effective. The Koreans are rebuilding after seven key players left the team following the Olympic qualifier in January," said Maninderjit.
Three-time Olympian and former national coach Datuk Sri Shanmuganathan said the defeat to China was disappointing.
"Conceding four goals against China is not a good result. The national team should reduce the number of goals they concede in a match. Are our defenders using the right way to tackle their opponents?
"Sarjit must relook the defensive errors to make sure they don't make the same mistakes.
"I have the experience as a defender and I can teach the national defenders to perfect their tackling. Every time you concede a goal, the forwards need to score two goals to win a match.
"And every time they play a match, there must be 70 per cent of the players in their own half to stop the opponents from scoring.
"They must also use overhead flicks into the semi-circle, and then they should use the first timers to score, which they are not doing.
"We have players with so many caps, but are they playing to their true form?
"But we need to give Sarjit more time to build a formidable team," said Shanmuganathan.
Tomorrow
Pakistan v Japan (1.30pm)
Malaysia v India (3.45pm)
China v S. Korea (6pm)
* Malaysian time