Bronze finish shows Speedy Tigers are moving in right direction, says coach

KUALA LUMPUR: National men's hockey coach Brendon Carolan said back-to-back podium finishes show the Speedy Tigers are moving in the right direction, despite failing to reach the final of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT).

Malaysia bounced back from a semi-final loss to Japan by outplaying South Korea 5-2 to take bronze at the Balbir Singh International Hockey Stadium in Mohali, Punjab, on Wednesday.

Fitri Saari opened the scoring in the second minute before Faizal Saari doubled the lead in the 34th minute.

Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal added two more in the 45th and 50th minutes, and captain Marhan Jalil sealed the win in the 58th minute.

Park Geun Woo (fifth minute) and Chun Se Min (13th minute) scored for South Korea.

Carolan said poor penalty corner conversion proved costly against Japan, after his side failed to score from five attempts.

"Penalty corners are something we identified that we need to work on. If we had fired in those areas in the semi-final match against Japan, we could have put ourselves into another final," Carolan said.

"It is disappointing not to be in a final, but fair dues to Japan as they played well.

"Still, winning back-to-back medals in two tournaments is a positive step for us. Our preparation is more long term. We are thinking a year down the line for Olympic qualifiers.

"We will next focus on the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. We look to expose a few players in that tournament, but we must find that balance because there are decent teams. Australia are a good side, and we want to balance exposing youth while preparing for an Olympic qualifier in a year," Carolan said.

Carolan added managing player fatigue remains a challenge ahead of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which will be held in Ipoh from Nov 20-28.

"After the ACT, the players go straight back into playing in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL). It is difficult for us to do any preparation in the middle of the league.

"We will most likely have a couple of days to prepare and play a training match against Canada before going straight into another tournament," Carolan said.

The national players will feature in the MHL from Nov 10-16 before reporting for national duty.

Besides Malaysia, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup features Australia, Canada, South Korea, Pakistan, and the United States.

At the ACT, Malaysian defender Azimuddin Syakir Kamaruddin, who scored three goals, was named rising star player.

Azrai finished as the tournament's joint second-highest scorer with India's Dilpreet Singh on seven goals.

Asian Games champions India beat Japan 4-1 in the final to lift their third consecutive and sixth overall ACT title.

Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh was named best player and finished as top scorer with 10 goals, while teammate Krishan Bahadur Pathak was named best goalkeeper.