PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian hockey women’s team have been taught a lesson in the ongoing Asian Cup in Muscat, Oman.
In their Pool A matches, Malaysia had a rough start, losing to India 0-9, but bounced back to beat Singapore 2-0.
In their last group game, Japan proved too good for the Malaysians as they were thrashed 0-8.
India and Japan booked spots in the semi-finals and qualified for the World Cup.
Malaysia, on the other hand, will play in the fifth to eighth classification matches.
Nasihin Nubli’s side will play Indonesia today and a win would guarantee them at least a sixth-place finish in the tournament.
The other classification match is between Singapore and Thailand.
Technical director for the national development squad Paul Revington said the experience in Oman would still bode well for the future, as this is a young team with an average age of less than 22.
“Despite the obvious two high-scoring results, it’s important for me to stress that our coaching and management staff are extremely proud of the courage shown by the team to play positive hockey against two Olympic teams.
“We have a team with 10 uncapped players before the tournament,” he said.
