Beijing Olympics Qualifier / Hockey: Malaysia go down fighting

Malaysian goalkeeper S. Kumar (left) and Baljit Singh Charun Singh were outstanding in their match against German yesterday.

MALAYSIA'S Olympic Qualifier suffered a setback when they fell to the mighty Germans yesterday.

Chua Boon Huat had his shot saved on the line.

Though the Malaysians oozed confidence and played their best match to date, they found the brilliance of the Germans too much to handle.

Sarjit Singh's men finally found their groove and matched the Germans in every department, and the three goals scored were not off defensive mistakes but because of German superiority.

It was Malaysia who had more chances in the first half, with the first falling to Amin Rahim whose penalty corner attempt whizzed just inches over the bar.

Kelvinder Singh then fumbled an open chance while the third was when Chua Boon Huat beat the German goalkeeper but his shot was saved on the line by a defender.
Malaysia held the Germans for 23 minutes before Christopher Zeller found the target off a penalty corner. The Germans added two more through Oliver Korn (43rd) and Timo Wess (58th).

The determined Malaysians chased for every ball and the Germans were caught out with some slick play by the underdogs.

Baljit Singh Charun Singh and goalkeeper S. Kumar played pivotal roles for Malaysia. Kumar saved more than 10 attempts, while Baljit took three hard knocks as the first runner to defend penalty corners.

Kelvinder Singh, Shahrun Nabil and Jiwa Mohan were the other outstanding players.

"When the team play like this, I am happy even though we lost," said Sarjit.

German coach Markus Weise was also full of praise for Malaysia.

"This was our most difficult match of the tournament so far, and the Malaysian players matched us for skill and fitness."

Sarjit hopes the rhythm will be retained for the remaining matches against Switzerland and Japan.

"If we play like this, then we will have no problem beating Switzerland and Japan." said Sarjit.

Japan take on Germany tomorrow, and if the hosts win, then Malaysia will be as good as out of the final.

"We will now have to wait for the result of the Japan-Germany match. If Japan lose then we can enter the final by beating Switzerland and Japan," said the coach.

NST