Arul pleased with ‘Speedy Tigers’ despite defeat

KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s hockey chief coach A. Arul Selvaraj is proud of the commitment shown by his team despite their 3-0 defeat by Japan in a friendly match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukti Jalil here Saturday night.

Arul said although it was the fasting month, the players gave an energetic display and matched Japan in many aspects.

“One thing I emphasised in training the past two days was the concept of defence … they mostly got it right but need to tighten their defence in one-on-one situations in the future,” he said in an audio clip the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) shared with the media on Sunday.

Arul hoped that several players who were injured in the match would recover in time for the match against Great Britain, the other team involved in the triangular friendlies.

In Saturday night’s match, which was played under the sports bubble concept, 2018 Asian Games champions Japan took the lead through a penalty corner shot by Hirotaka Zendana in the 19th minute.

In the second half, Japan, playing their first competitive match in 18 months, scored two field goals through Kota Watanabe and Ryosei Kato in the 50th and 55th minutes respectively.

It was Arul’s first match after taking over the reins from experienced Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans, who parted ways with MHC last August.