JOHOR BARU: The national juniors' three consecutive defeats in the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) suggest that they may not be ready for the Junior World Cup (JWC), which is only 35 days away.
They struggled with penalty corners and missed opportunities during the group stage.
Amin Rahim's side conceded easy goals and were reduced to a chasing pack in the defeats to New Zealand (3-2), India (3-1) and Pakistan (3-2) in Group B.
He expressed dissatisfaction with how his team conceded nine goals in the group stage, considering that their forwards only managed five goals, which is far from satisfactory.
"Our penalty corner conversion rates were also low in every match, despite winning many. Against Pakistan, we managed to win more than five penalty corners in the third quarter but still could not convert any of them.
"Our penalty corner defending is also not up to the mark. In the match against Pakistan, they scored from two of three penalty corner attempts."
With so many flaws to rectify, the Malaysian team will be fighting for their lives in Group A of the JWC against Chile, Argentina and Australia.
The Australians showed great form to qualify for the semi-finals, where they will play Pakistan. The other semi-final is between India and Germany.
Malaysia will play in the fifth-eighth bracket, and their first opponents are Britain.
Britain are the only team in the SoJC that did not qualify for the JWC. In Group A, Britain lost to Australia (3-0) and Germany (4-3) but beat South Africa (2-1).
"We played Britain in a friendly before the SoJC as a warm-up, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
"However, friendly matches can't be used as a yardstick.
"The target now is to finish fifth, and we need to beat Britain at all costs," said Amin.
The SoJC has shown many chinks in the Malaysian armour, and before they enter the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil to battle Chile on Dec 5 in the JWC, everything needs to be in place, especially their penalty corner battery.
After Chile, the national juniors will take on world No. 1 Argentina the next day and Australia on Dec 8.
SOJC FIXTURES
THURSDAY
5th-8th placing: New Zealand v South Africa (6pm); Britain v Malaysia (8.35pm).
FRIDAY
Semi-finals
India v Germany (4pm); Australia v Pakistan (8.35pm).
All matches at the Taman Daya Stadium, Johor Baru
