KUALA LUMPUR – Going back-to-back with podium finishes in two consecutive tournaments remains a positive step for the national men’s hockey team, despite their disappointment at missing out on the final of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT), says head coach Brendon Carolan.
The Speedy Tigers settled for third place after defeating South Korea 5-2 at the Balbir Singh International Hockey Stadium in Mohali, India, yesterday, adding another medal to their collection following their silver-medal finish at the Asian Games.
Carolan admitted that missing out on the final was disappointing, particularly as he felt Malaysia were within touching distance of securing a place in the title decider.
Speaking to Scoop, the South African said the narrow margins in their crucial match against Japan proved costly, with penalty-corner execution emerging as one of the key areas that needed improvement.
“Obviously, you always want to be in a final, so it is disappointing not to be there. But I think the margins were fine.
“In that crucial game against Japan, penalty corners were something we identified as an area we needed to work on. If we had delivered in those areas, we could have put ourselves in another final.
“It is disappointing, but fair dues to Japan. They played well, and going back-to-back with medals in two tournaments is still a positive step for us,” he said.
Malaysia’s third-place finish came after a commanding comeback against South Korea, having initially fallen behind following an encouraging start.
Fitri Saari gave the Speedy Tigers an early lead in the second minute, but South Korea responded through Park Geun-woo, who converted a penalty corner three minutes later, before Chun Semin put the Koreans ahead in the 13th minute.
However, Carolan’s men regrouped after the interval, with veteran forward Faizal Saari restoring parity through a penalty corner in the 34th minute.
Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal then took centre stage, scoring twice in the 45th and 50th minutes to put Malaysia firmly in control and earn the Man of the Match award.
Captain Marhan Jalil completed the 5-2 victory with another penalty-corner conversion in the 58th minute.
Malaysia earned five penalty corners and converted two, while South Korea managed one goal from their two opportunities.
Despite the encouraging result, Carolan stressed that the ACT was also part of Malaysia’s longer-term preparations for the Olympic qualifying campaign, which is expected to take place in a year’s time.
He dismissed suggestions that the team had approached the tournament solely as an opportunity to experiment, explaining that the coaching staff needed to strike a balance between giving younger players exposure and maintaining competitiveness against quality opposition.
“We have just come off the back of the Asian Games, so our preparation is more long-term. We are thinking a year down the line towards the Olympic qualifiers, and the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is one of the tournaments involved in that process.
“We hope to expose a few players in that tournament, but we have to find the right balance because there are some pretty decent teams. Australia are a good side, so we want to balance giving younger players opportunities while making sure we are adequately prepared for the Olympic qualifiers,” he said.
Carolan also acknowledged the challenges of assembling the national squad for preparations ahead of the next assignment, with players expected to return directly to their respective domestic league commitments.
He said the coaching staff would have limited time to work with the squad before the next tournament, making it difficult to organise an extended training camp.
“It is difficult because the players go straight back into the league, so we cannot do much preparation in the middle of the competition.
“We will most likely meet at the tournament, have a couple of days of preparation, play a training match against Canada and then go straight into another tournament,” he added. – November 6, 2026