Malaysian hockey’s
embarrassment for
eternity
Malaysia learned what real hockey and real shame are in their 8-1 drubbing by India in Asian Champions Trophy yesterday.
We’re India. Pleased to meet you. Game over.
Malaysia fell apart from the first minute to the last in a game that perfectly captured the sense of decayed national hockey architecture.
You could pick a slew of words to describe the 8-1 demolition of Malaysia at the hands of India, once a banana-skin opponent, in the Asian Champions Trophy at Inner Mongolia, China, yesterday.
None of them would be pretty.
The game will be remembered more for the total capitulation of a sloppy Malaysia rather than India’s clinical performance.
Sarjit Singh’s team trembled from the outset, with the senior players going missing, everybody seemingly giving up after conceding goals in the third, sixth and seventh minutes.
India, at one point, looked good to better their best ever win over Malaysia (14-2 in 1954) as they had racked up eight goals in the first three quarters.
In the rematch of the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy finalists, there was no pride and no fight on Malaysia’s part and India tore them apart.
It was too brutal, too piercing, too unbearable to watch.
The national side had its insides torn out, losing drive with each heavy blow. The goals went in, and would not stop.
Paris Olympics bronze medallists India couldn’t find the off switch. Wave after wave of forward play sliced through a Malaysian defence that could not close doors fast enough before another one opened.
It was a result that couldn’t have even been thought of, and was at times difficult to make sense of, let alone keep count.
It was unlike the last encounter between the two teams in the final of Asian Champions Trophy last year in Chennai where A Arulselvaraj-coached Malaysia led 3-1 at half-time. India then turned the tables to win the match 4-3.
There will be new bruises from this historic embarrassment and the basic weight of that scoreline to digest.
This was a continuation of a recurrence of frailties that are fast becoming the rule rather than the exception.
What stage of decay is Malaysian hockey at?
Good defenders, that’s what it needs. Great goal scorers. Wonderful passers. Energy, inspiration, intelligence. India had all that, and were never troubled.
Coming on the heels of the 4-2 loss to China, and an earlier comeback 2-2 draw with Pakistan, the failure of Sarjit’s team is cataclysmic, individually and collectively.
What irks is that the squad has a combined total of 1,900 caps compared to 23rd world-ranked China, whose players have a mere 530 caps.
No one to blame but themselves
What of Sarjit himself? As the destruction unfolds before his eyes, he’s still talking about plans and processes when all we see is chaos and carnage.
This team, ranked 13th in the world, was prepared for the champions trophy with the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament, the Nations Cup and European tours.
It comprises seasoned campaigners, some in their mid-30s, who have been with the team for a long time, and the management and coaches choose to cling on to them simply because there are few capable players coming through the junior ranks.
The situation is now so stark that there must be serious questions over whether Sarjit can rally a demoralised squad to the point where they can defeat Japan today (1.45pm Malaysia time) and Korea on Saturday (also at 1.45pm).
A third defeat in a row today will virtually knock them out of the race to the semifinals, and this is where someone will say that the campaign to renew Malaysian hockey is far from over.
If Malaysia manage to get out of their predicament and make the last four, hockey fans might just start believing in the team again.
In the meantime, let’s stop using the moniker Speedy Tigers because this pack lacks every virtue of a tiger.
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