Sarjit wants team to get fifth spot and nothing less

BUKIT JALIL: Fighting for fifth place is no longer a requirement, but a matter of pride for the national hockey team.

The Speedy Tigers’ head coach Sarjit Singh admitted that the team were not up to speed against their opponents in the ongoing Nations Cup after they missed the cut for the semi-finals.

The team had beaten Japan 2-1 in the final Group B match on Wednesday but it wasn’t enough to see them into the final four.

Pakistan, who drew 3-3 against them in the opening match, went through instead on goal difference as the second best team behind New Zealand.

Now left with fifth place to fight for, Sarjit emphasised that the result is a must-do target when they take on South Africa in the classification fixture at the National Hockey Stadium today.

“We must get the fifth spot, we have to. We can’t settle for seventh or eighth, no,” said Sarjit.

“South Africa are going to be tough, but we need to beat them. If we play like how we did against Japan, I don’t see why we can’t win.

Sarjit added that the team’s finishing skills in front of goal has not been a major concern, as the team have scored eight goals so far in the tournament.

“Our finishing has been good and our forwards have been scoring goals. The goals are there, but it just wasn’t enough to see us through to the semis,” he said.

However, Sarjit admitted that their team still lacked in physical strength, which led the players to be prone to mistakes towards the end of the matches.

“We still have a long way to go in terms of our fitness. We need to be much better. Teams like China and Japan are not the strongest, but their fitness is three times better than ours,” he said.