KUALA LUMPUR: The Speedy Tigers produced a decent account by finishing fourth at the recent Sultan Azlan Shah (SAS) Cup in Ipoh.
However, Sarjit Singh's men had one major problem — their poor penalty corner conversion rate.
The Speedy Tigers must strengthen this department to have any chance of doing well in the Nations Cup in Gniezno, Poland, from May 31-June 9.
At the SAS Cup, which was Sarjit's first assignment as a national coach, the team converted only five or 21.7 per cent of their 23 penalty corner attempts.
Forward Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal was Malaysia's most successful penalty corner taker by scoring three times, while Azimuddin Kamaruddin and Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan netted one each in the SAS Cup, during which the Speedy Tigers scored 20 goals and conceded 16 in six matches.
Surprisingly, veteran Faizal Saari failed to convert a penalty corner in the tournament.
As penalty corner conversions are crucial to win games in modern hockey, Sarjit must address this problem immediately.
In the Nations Cup, world No. 13 Malaysia are in Group B with No. 9 France, No. 16 Pakistan, and No. 20 Canada.
Group A comprises Austria, South Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, and Poland.
The champions will qualify for the FIH Pro League.
Faizal, 33, who scored three field goals in Ipoh, admitted he was not pleased with his penalty corner attempts.
"I failed to convert any of my five penalty attempts during the SAS Cup. I must work on my drag flicks before the Nations Cup," said Faizal.
He added that the Speedy Tigers must also work on their consistency to win matches.
Faizal cited Malaysia's 5-4 defeat to Pakistan, despite leading 3-1 at one stage during the SAS Cup, as an example.
"Our target is to reach the semi-finals in the Nations Cup. However, we must improve our consistency and penalty corner conversions to achieve this goal," said Faizal, who has 291 caps.
