Missing out on Asian Games gold really hurts, says Speedy Tigers’ Fitri

Missing out on the 2026 Asian Games men’s hockey gold medal and an automatic ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games has left national player Fitri Saari feeling the pain of two lost opportunities.

Midfielder Fitri said both objectives had been the national squad’s main ambitions before the campaign began, but Malaysia had to settle for silver after losing 1-5 to defending champions India in the final at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium yesterday.

“Both really hurt because we were targeting gold and qualification for the Olympics.

“We knew our main challenge would be India. Pakistan had improved as well, but we had already beaten them, so one hurdle had been cleared. Against India, we tried our very best. So, it really hurts,” he told reporters after the match.

The defeat meant Malaysia missed the automatic LA28 berth awarded to the Asian Games men’s hockey champions and will now have to go through the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Fitri acknowledged that the qualifying tournament would be another tough challenge as Malaysia are expected to face strong teams from other continents.

“There are other strong teams, including those from Europe. We don’t know how we will fare against the likes of the Netherlands, Spain and other strong teams, but we will try our best,” he said.

On the final against India, Fitri said Malaysia were able to match them in the first two quarters before their performance began to dip due to lapses in decision-making.

“We knew India had the advantage because they were the defending champions. We tried to compete with them. In the first and second quarters, we were still able to challenge them. When we entered the third and fourth quarters, we were lacking in decision-making,” he said.

Fitri said Malaysia must improve several aspects of their game ahead of their next assignment, particularly penalty-corner defence and finishing in attack.

“We have to be better, especially in defending penalty corners. In attack, we also have to be more clinical in the D. If we have opportunities to score, we have to take them,” he said.

Malaysia will next turn their attention to the Asian Champions Trophy in India from Oct 27 to Nov 5 before continuing their preparations for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

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