Arulselvaraj admits his charges can’t cope with India’s ‘race car drivers’

No let-up: Malaysia’s Shello Silverius (right) vying for the ball with India’s Gurjant Singh. — AP

PETALING JAYA: Hockey powerhouse India, the world No. 3, play like race car drivers speeding at 300kph on a track circuit!

That’s how Malaysia coach A. Arulselvaraj see the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) winners, who got the better of the Speedy Tigers twice in Chennai – 5-0 in the round robin and 4-3 in the final last Saturday.

India’s high tempo, especially in the third and fourth quarters in the final where they scored three goals while trailing 1-3 to edge Malaysia, was proof of their level of play.

India had benefited much from playing regularly in the Pro League season, where they notched up eight wins and three draws to finish fourth among the top nine nations in the world.

The Pro League included Holland, Belgium, Britain, Australia, Spain, Germany, Argentina and New Zealand in a home-and-away format spread throughout the year.

Malaysia could only play Holland, Spain and New Zealand during the World Cup in India in January besides taking on their Asian rivals and other lower ranked European teams in international competitions.

That disparity showed in the first match where India thumped Malaysia with five goals but the Tigers bounced back strongly, losing the final narrowly to give themselves hope of battling for the Asian Games (Sept 23-Oct 8) gold in Hangzhou.

Arulselvaraj said that playing India was unlike driving a car during jam-packed weekdays with the speed of 50-60kph.

“When we go to the racing track on weekends and drive up to 200-300kph, it’s totally a different feeling. That’s the level India regularly play at,” said Arulselvaraj.

“Their tempo is very high because of playing in the Pro League with teams like Holland, Belgium and Australia.

“As the world No. 3, they regularly play at that intensity and that is also something we want to do but I can’t get those matches.

“At the ACT, India have their pride at stake as hosts and they were at full throttle but we came close in the final.

“However, the boys have regained their self-belief that they can get a result if we meet India again at the Asian Games.”

Arulselvaraj believes his players have their own strengths to counter India should they meet again at the Asiad.

“When it comes to team organisation and ball possession on the pitch, team work, field goals and penalty corner options, we are better than them,” he added.

“We scored the most number of field goals (13) and we have more than one player who can convert penalty corners.

“These positives will help us at the Asian Games and our players have always fulfilled another wish – that is to avoid injuries.”

Firhaan Ashaari and Shello Silverius scored four field goals each while Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored three field goals and a penalty corner while Najmi Farizal Jazlan (three penalty corners and one field goal), Faizal Shaari (two penalty corners), Aminuddin Zain (one penalty corner), Razie Rahim (one penalty corner) and Meor Azuan Hassan (one penalty corner) were the different scorers.

Arulselvaraj said the team are on the right track and will continue their preparations by ironing out their weaknesses and improving further on their strong points.

Malaysia will also be happy that they managed to beat all their rivals, including back-to-back wins (1-0 and 6-2) against South Korea for the first time, and head to Hangzhou full of optimism.