Coach Harfizi ready to take blame after hockey boys miss podium spot

Tough fight: Malaysia’s Abdul Hamzah Yahkip (left) in action against a Pakistan player. — Asian Hockey Federation

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s hockey boys’ hopes of securing a podium finish at the Under-18 Asia Cup were dashed after they settled for fourth yesterday.

The team, coached by Harfizi Baharom, fell 3-0 to Pakistan in the third-placing match in Kakamigahara, Japan, falling one spot below their bronze medal finish at last year’s edition.

Harfizi took responsibility for the team’s loss in Japan as they fell short of a podium finish, but he hopes the boys took positive lessons during their outing in Japan.

“As head coach, I take full responsibility for the team’s performance. I am prepared to accept whatever decision comes from the management after their evaluation,” said Harfizi.

“To the players, your journey is still a long one. Use this defeat as a lesson to continue working hard and come back even stronger and more mature in the future.”

Pakistan dominated the match with an early goal from Uzair Ahmad Qureshi in the third minute, before Haider Asam converted a penalty stroke in the 23rd minute and Adeel scored a field goal in the 59th minute.

Harfizi admitted that the match against Pakistan showed glaring weaknesses within the youth team, and their opponents capitalised on them.

“From a game perspective, we tried to have a positive start, but simple mistakes led to us being punished when Pakistan scored early.

“At the international level, every mistake has a big impact and our opponents took advantage of our errors.

“I still appreciate the efforts and commitments shown by the players who fought until the final whistle.

“They never gave up despite facing a tough situation,” he said.

Malaysia’s run in Japan saw them take only two wins and suffer three defeats.

The team started their campaign with a shocking 4-2 defeat to Bangladesh, before coming back to win 3-2 against Pakistan and 3-0 against China in the group stage.

“Overall, this campaign provided many lessons for the team. We experienced several disappointing results, but at the same time, the players demonstrated fighting spirit and courage to compete,” he said.