Malaysia Suffer Embarrassing 1-5 Defeat To Japan

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian men's senior hockey squad started off their Japan tour with an embarrassing 1-5 defeat to the Japanese national squad on Wednesday, after missing a few key players due to various reasons. In the practice match played at the Gifu Green Stadium, Malaysia were trailing 0-5 when the home side scored in the fifth, 15th, 22nd, 37th and 43rd minutes. However, in the 55th minute, midfielder Norhizzat Sumantri managed to reduce the deficit with a field goal. Commenting on the lost to the world number 16, head coach Stephen Van Huizen admitted that the performance of his boys was below par but provided an opportunity to try out new players since some key players were missing. "We are without several players, many of who hold major roles in our team. As such, there was a lack of stability overall. "We also tried many players out of position just to see all available options. We were significantly better in the second half, albeit still playing short of the expected standard. "We will have a review session tonight to rectify our mistakes and put up a better performance in the coming matches," Stephen was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation. Malaysia, the world number 13, are on tour without national captain Razie Rahim and vice-captain Nabil Fiqri (both in police training), midfielder Fitri Saari and defender Faiz Helmi Jali (exam), forward Shahril Saabah (family commitments) and goalkeeper S.Kumar (injured). The two sides will play their second match tomorrow at the same venue, where a total of four matches and two test matches will be played in the 10-day stint. --BERNAMA