A file picture of Malaysia hockey coach K. Dharmaraj. He has said that Malaysia would try to finish at least fifth place in their group to qualify for the playoff for the ninth and 10th placing in the 2014 hockey World Cup.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will face a tough opening match against defending champions Australia in the World Cup hockey tournament at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague, Holland, on May 31.
Twelve teams will feature in the tournament and world No. 13 Malaysia’s other Group A matches are against world No. 5 Belgium on June 2, world No. 4 England (June 5), world No. 10 India (June 7) and world No. 9 Spain (June 9).
The semi-finals are slated for June 13 and the final is on June 15.
Olympic champions and world No. 2 Germany are drawn in Group B with Holland (No. 3), New Zealand (No. 6), South Korea (No. 7), Argentina (No. 11) and South Africa (No. 12).
The target for the national team, who are playing in the World Cup after a lapse of 12 years, is to finish among the top 10.
Malaysia last played in the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 2002 where they finished eighth among 16 teams.
National chief coach K. Dharmaraj is aware that they will face a torrid time against Australia, who are ranked number one in the world.
“They are just too strong and we need a miracle to beat them.
“So, we will not focus too much on this match against the two-time world champions,” said Dharmaraj.
He added that they would also face tough encounters against Belgium and England, who are the top two teams in Europe.
“Our first three matches will be difficult to win. So, we will go all out to get the better of India and Spain in the last two matches to avoid finishing last in the group,” said Dharmaraj.
He said that they would try to finish at least fifth place in their group to qualify for the playoff for the ninth and 10th placing.
There are 31 players in the training squad and Dharmaraj is expected to name his best squad of 18 players two weeks before the World Cup.
Malaysia will begin their season with the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh from March 13-23 followed by the Champions Challenge 1 tournament in Kuantan from April 26-May 4.
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