PETALING JAYA: Malaysia may have lost to India for the second time in less than a month, but head coach Brendon Carolan believes the gap between the two sides is narrowing.
The Speedy Tigers went down 2-4 to the Asian giants in their penultimate group match at the Asian Champions Trophy at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Punjab on Sunday.
The defeat came after Malaysia lost 1-5 to India in the final of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games early last month, but Carolan felt his side had shown significant improvement.
Carolan said Malaysia, ranked world No. 12, put on a better performance at the competition against world No. 8 India compared to their game in Japan.
“I think we played better during the recent game against India, relative to where we were at the Asian Games,” said Carolan.
“I think the gap is getting smaller and we’re improving.”
Despite the loss, Malaysia have secured a semi-final berth after winning their first three matches against China (5-4), South Korea (3-1) and Bangladesh (6-1).
India captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a hattrick (3rd, 33rd and 58th minutes), while Sukhjeet Singh (43rd) added another.
Akhimullah Anuar Esook (25th) and Shello Silverius (60th) scored for Malaysia.
Carolan felt Malaysia were in the contest until Faiz Helmi Jali received a yellow card in the third quarter, with the resulting 10-minute suspension shifting the momentum in India’s favour.
“I thought we were playing well. But the 10 minutes after the card changed the momentum of the game.
“It was a critical moment that changed how things were going in the game for us,” he said.
Malaysia have yet to win the competition, with their best result being a runners-up finish in 2023, when they also lost to defending champions India.
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