Dharmaraj believes his charges can beat Japan

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian women’s hockey team have beaten Japan before and coach K. Dharmaraj is confident they can do it again when they take on the hosts in the Asia Cup quarter-finals at the Gifu Hockey Stadium in Kakamigahara today.

Malaysia had upset Japan 2-0 in a round-robin match of the Asian Champions Trophy in Singapore last year.

“It will be tough this time as Japan will be playing in their own backyard and will be buoyed by their home fans. But to me nothing is impossible,” said Dharmaraj, who has set his team a top-four target in the Asia Cup.

Dharmaraj expects Japan to come charging as they seek to avenge their loss to Malaysia in Singapore.

“They will play a fast attacking game, so my players need to stay focused throughout the match,” he said, adding that he had used the one-day break to work on his team’s penalty corner variation.

“We had 24 penalty corners in three matches and only managed to convert four. I hope our drag flickers – Norbaini Hashim, Nurul Nabihah Mansur and skipper Siti Noor Amarina Ruhani – will raise their game and deliver penalty corner goals tomorrow (today).

“But my defence also needs to buck up. We crumbled in the dying minutes in our group matches against China and India.”

Against world No. 8 China, Malaysia were leading 4-3 with just three minutes remaining. China fought back to score two goals to win 5-4.

Two defensive errors allowed India to beat Malaysia 2-0.