Malaysia’s Young Tigers failed to hold back Japan in the last two quarters before succumbing to a 1-4 defeat in the 12th Sultan of Johor Cup at the Johor Bahru Hockey Stadium, Taman Desa tonight.
The Malaysians and Japanese went into the match on the back of disappointing results in Saturday’s opening day games. The Young Tigers went down 2-3 against New Zealand while Japan lost 2-4 to India.
In contrast to Saturday’s overwhelming support from fans that numbered around 3,000, the figures diminished in size today owing to Sunday being a working day in the state of Johor.
Malaysian junior head coach I. Vikneswaran, said: “We started very well. This game, we had targeted to win. If you don’t score we are not going to win. We can only blame ourselves. We took the lead. The boys must have the knowledge on how to move the ball around the pitch. They made crucial errors in defence that allowed Japan to score the second goal, and the third, and so on.”
“From that moment the momentum of the game changed. And when you become emotional your EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is not stable. It will affect your overall performance,” he added.
Moving forward to the upcoming match against the Indians on Tuesday, Vikneswaran said the Young Tigers must take every opportunity to lift their confidence level and mental strength to face the challenges in the remaining matches.
“India is a strong side and they have been playing consistently. But if you put your defeats behind and move forward with a strong mind, things can change for the better,” he stressed.
The Young Tigers started at a fast pace and earned three back-to-back penalty corner opportunities six minutes into the match but failed to capitalize.
Japan then unpicked the Malaysian defence two minutes later to win their first penalty corner. Tsubasa Tanaka drove the ball wide past the left goal post and way beyond the reach of goalkeeper Mohamad Rafaizul Saini.
The first quarter ended with near missed chances, and the same scenario extended into the second quarter.
It was only in the third quarter that the Malaysians burst into top gear and once again it was Adam Ashraf who put the host ahead 1-0 in the 35th minute via a field goal. The 18-year-old was also instrumental in scoring Malaysia’s goal against New Zealand on Saturday.
Hyota Yamada responded swiftly for Japan three minutes later by converting a penalty stroke with a well-placed drag-flick past Rafaizul to level the score at 1-1.
The Japanese looked far more dangerous as the match progressed into the end of the third quarter. Yuto Higuchi extended the lead to 2-1 with a 43rd minute field goal, team captain and Man of the Match award winner Yamato Kawahara added the fourth in the 48th minute from an acute angle along the left base line, and Koyo Nishida converted a 51st minute penalty corner that gave Japan a commanding a 4-1 victory.
For the Malaysians, it was another heartbreaking script that punctured their confidence on a cold night.
