KUALA LUMPUR: The national junior hockey squad will face an uphill battle against defending champions India in the semi-finals of the Junior Asia Cup in Muscat tomorrow.
India are in top form and had drubbed South Korea 8-1 yesterday (Dec 1) to top Group A with four wins. They had earlier in the tournament hammered Thailand 11-0, Taiwan 16-0 and edged Japan 3-2.
Malaysia's form in the competition has not been impressive. The Young Tigers opened with wins against China (5-2) and Oman (9-1) but could only manage a 2-2 draw with lower-ranked Bangladesh before losing to Pakistan 4-1.
Malaysia coach I. Vickneswaran is expecting a tough encounter against India.
The other semi-final will see Japan facing Pakistan.
"We only have one rest day to conduct an analysis and prepare for the semi-finals," said Vickneswaran today, who is also the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association president.
"We need to come up with a solid strategy which can help us get the better of India."
Malaysia, currently ranked 11th in the world, has played India (world No. 2) a total of 15 times since the 1979 Junior World Cup in Versailles.
India leads the head-to-head record with 11 wins, two draws and two losses.