KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — National men's hockey team head coach A. Arul Selvaraj has blamed poor finishing for his team's failure to beat Pakistan in their final Group A match of the 2024 Olympic Qualifiers in Muscat, Oman, yesterday.
The 3-3 draw with Pakistan ended the Speedy Tigers’ hopes of playing in the Paris Olympics in July.
Although his men dominated the match, their lack of bite up front saw them miss a string of chances and prevented them from getting all three points, which would have been enough to confirm a place in the semi-finals of the Qualifiers.
"We created many chances but failed to take them, and Pakistan just relied on counterattacks. On behalf of the team, I apologise to all Malaysians, especially the supporters, for our failure,” he said in a video clip shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) today.
Malaysia has no other option than to work harder to get back among the elites in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The Speedy Tigers began the Qualifiers in Oman with a 3-2 loss to China on Monday (January 15) before getting hammered 4-1 by Great Britain the next day.
The 3-3 draw with Pakistan at the Oman Hockey Stadium yesterday left the national team languishing at the bottom of Group A with just one point. Great Britain topped the group with nine points, followed by Pakistan (four points) and China (3 points).
Only the top three teams from the Qualifiers in Oman will get to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Malaysia last played in the Olympics in the 2000 edition in Sydney.
Undaunted, Arul Selvaraj has called on his players to bounce back and restore the country's dignity by beating Chile in the fifth-eighth classification match tomorrow.
"We must bounce back and finish fifth, at least. That is why we must win (against Chile) so that we can play in the fifth-sixth placing playoff,” he said.
— Bernama
