IPOH — Malaysia gave everything they had but weren’t good enough to overcome Japan’s resilience as they lost 2-1 in their fourth match at the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup today.
The fiery match between the two sides attracted approximately 3,000 to 5,000 hockey fans at the Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Ipoh.
National head coach Sarjit Singh said his team was unfortunate not to find the ball in the net despite having the highest number of chances in the intense four-quarter match.
The Speedy Tigers launched a total of 27 attacks in the match, which also saw five cards shown to both sides.
“I think we were nervous in the first two quarters, but our movements were still good as our players stuck to the tactics and followed them accordingly.
“We had the most chances, and our build-up play was good, but our attempts just didn’t find the net.
“The players gave everything, but this is hockey, and we can’t predict the outcome.
“We hope to learn from this effort and come back stronger in the remaining matches in this tournament,” said Sarjit during a post-match conference.
Meanwhile, Japan’s head coach Yoshihiro Anai was delighted that his world number 16 side had mathematically qualified for the final of the invitational tournament for the first time in its history.
He further commended his goalkeeper, Takashi Yoshikawa, for his man-of-the-match performance that prevented his side from conceding heavily against the Speedy Tigers.
The Samurais, making only their sixth appearance at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, fielded a team with an average age of 24 years.
They remained undefeated in the tournament after four matches.
Japan’s best performance in the history of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was finishing fourth in the 2022 edition. They lost 5-3 to Pakistan in the playoff for the bronze medal.
“I’m happy that our boys defeated a tough side like Malaysia to qualify for the final of the tournament. The Malaysian players were fast and gave us a good fight in the 60-minute match.
“They kept pressuring us with their vicious attack, but we need to give credit to our goalkeeper Yoshikawa for making so many crucial saves and winning the match for us.
“We are not thinking about the final as we aim to continue this same momentum in our last pool match against Canada on Friday,” said Anai.
Japan’s goals were scored by Kazumasa Matsumoto (24th minute) and Ryoma Ooka (50th minute), while Faizal Saari, making his 289th appearance for his country, scored the only goal for Malaysia in the 31st minute.
The match also saw a slight tussle and verbal arguments between Japanese goalkeeper Yoshikawa and the Speedy Tigers players, resulting in match umpire Deepak Joshi calming the situation on the turf. — May 9, 2024