PETALING JAYA: Malaysia suffered a shocking 5-0 defeat against hosts India in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) hockey event in Chennai on Sunday (Aug 8).
It was the Speedy Tigers’ biggest defeat against India since losing 6-0 to the world No. 4 in the Ready Steady Tokyo Hockey in 2019.
Karthi Selvam opened the scoring for India with a 14th minute field goal and they had to wait until the second half to increase the lead to 2-0 when Hardik Singh converted a penalty corner (PC) in the 31st minute.
India’s influential captain Harmanpreet Singh converted another PC in the 41st minute, Gurjant Singh added a field goal in the 52nd-minute while Jugraj Singh scored through a penalty corner a minute later to complete the huge win.
National coach A. Arulsevaraj said Malaysia gave too much respect to their opponents in the match.
“India showed with the win why they are the world No. 4 but what is disappointing is that Malaysia gave them too much room and respect,” said Arulselvaraj.
“We have to put this defeat aside and be ready mentally, physically and emotionally to face Japan in the next game.”
Malaysia will play Japan in their fourth match later Monday (Aug 7).
Having already beaten Pakistan 3-1 and China 5-1, the Tigers need a win against Japan to confirm their place in the semi-finals.
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