Malaysia's Speedy Tigers not so slow this time
KUALA LUMPUR: The national men's hockey team usually go to Australia for friendly matches. And usually they would get beaten — badly too.
This time, world No. 13 Malaysia ended their fourth and final friendly in Perth with a crushing 6-1 loss to world No. 6 Australia yesterday. The Speedy Tigers had the short-lived thrill of taking the lead through Akhimullah Anuar Esook before Australia scored six goals.
In this tour, Malaysia drew once and lost thrice against the Kookaburras. Earlier, they lost 5-2 and 4-1.
But on Thursday, the Speedy Tigers did something commendable. They didn't lose this time. In fact Malaysia led 4-1 before Australia levelled the scores 4-4.
Days before the friendlies against the Kookaburras, Malaysia edged Western Australia 2-1 but suffered a 6-0 defeat to Australia A, which is their development team. The Speedy Tigers scored a total of 10 goals and conceded 26 in six matches.
The trip Down Under has left Malaysian Hockey Confederation coaching committee chairman Datuk Majid Manjit Abdullah on a high.
He said the national team had shown improvement in the matches.
"I spoke to national coach Sarjit and he was happy with his team's fitness level. The players played with fast tempo and even took a 4-1 lead in the third friendly before the match ended in a draw.
"We played quality matches and we managed to narrow the gap with the Australian national team. We hope to play more matches with the Australian team later this year.
"However, there is much to be done as there are weaknesses in defence as we conceded a number of goals. The forwards also need to be sharper and we need to improve our penalty corner conversion."
Sarjit's men, who are preparing for the Nations Cup in Bukit Jalil from June 15-21, are drawn in Group B with world No. 12 New Zealand, Pakistan (No. 15) and Japan (No. 16). Group A comprises world No. 9 France, South Africa (No.11), South Korea (No. 14) and Wales (No. 18). He has set a semi-final target for the team.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Piastri sees 'cooler' statistics ahead after five wins in nine
Formula One F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - June 12, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger MONTREAL (Reuters) -Oscar Piastri could stand alone after Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix as the only Australian to win six or more races in a single Formula One season, but the 24-year-old has bigger and better statistics in his sights. Only Jack Brabham and Alan Jones, world champions both, won five in the same year although their tallies reflect the fact that there were far fewer races then to a campaign than the current record 24. Piastri, who leads McLaren teammate Lando Norris by 10 points in the championship, has won five of the nine so far and been on the podium in the last eight. It will surprise nobody if the remarkably calm driver is back on the top step at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday. "It's a nice stat to have," he said of matching the maximum season haul of 1980 champion Jones and late triple title-winner Brabham. "I'd be happier with the stat of joining them as world champion. "To have five wins in nine races is beyond what I expected really, even with a very competitive car," he added, saying there had also been a few other moments he wished he could rerun. "Whilst those stats are cool, that's ultimately not why I'm here," he said. "I'm here to try and win even more races and fight for a championship. So I think there's some cooler statistics to come hopefully." COMPETITIVE VERSTAPPEN Piastri said he expected Montreal to be a continuation of how the season has gone so far, with champions McLaren winning seven of the nine and Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen the other two, and also good for him. "Max will probably be competitive again. This was a very competitive race for Mercedes last year and I expect them to be quick again here," he added. "But you never quite know whether that's going to be matching us or challenging in qualifying especially, or a tenth or two back. Hopefully it's not a tenth or two ahead but you just never quite know exactly where the challenge is going to come from. "Monaco was a strong race for Ferrari and there's some similarities to here but we said that 12 months ago and it wasn't a great race for them." Piastri qualified fourth with Norris third on the grid in Canada last year but the Australian finished fifth with his teammate runner-up to Verstappen. "Somewhat ironically the races that were pretty bad for me last year have been the best so far this year, and some of the ones that were good last year haven't been great," he said. "So we'll see how we go but I'm expecting it to be a good weekend...I've been very comfortable with the car the whole year and I feel like I'm in a good place at the moment so I'm expecting it to be strong." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
The Sun
11 hours ago
- The Sun
Olympian Heath Ryan Suspended for Whipping Horse 40+ Times
OLYMPIAN Heath Ryan has been suspended by an 'extremely alarmed' Equestrian Australia after a video showed him whipping a horse more than 40 times. The 66-year-old, who represented Australia in dressage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said in a statement he had been acting in the animal's 'best interests'. The video, originally shared to US-based Facebook account Dressage Hub, showed him striking the stallion repeatedly with a narrator saying the horse was 'traumatised in every state'. Equestrian Australia said it was 'extremely alarmed and concerned'. 'Equestrian Australia has imposed a provisional suspension of this person's membership of Equestrian Australia and their rights, privileges and benefits associated with their membership,' it added. The ban will remain in place pending an investigation by its integrity unit. Ryan, a former three-time Australian three-day event champion, defended his actions, saying it had been a 'life or death moment' for the horse, named Nico. He said the six-year-old had always been a 'problem child' and was destined for the knackery after an incident with a family friend that left her in intensive care. 'I felt obliged to the horse to just have a look and see if it was possibly salvageable,' he said. 'That video was a life or death moment for Nico and I genuinely had to try my very hardest to see if Nico would consider other options. 'All of this transpired sincerely with the horse's best interests the sole consideration. Unbelievably, it was so successful for everyone except me with the release of this video.' He claimed the video was two years old and posted by a disgruntled ex-employee, with Nico now thriving in a new home. Three-time Olympic dressage gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin missed the Paris Games last year following a different horse-whipping controversy. The British rider was banned just days before the start of the Olympics after a video emerged showing her repeatedly striking a horse on its legs.
The Sun
11 hours ago
- The Sun
Australian Olympic equestrian suspended over horse-whipping video
OLYMPIAN Heath Ryan has been suspended by an 'extremely alarmed' Equestrian Australia after a video showed him whipping a horse more than 40 times. The 66-year-old, who represented Australia in dressage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said in a statement he had been acting in the animal's 'best interests'. The video, originally shared to US-based Facebook account Dressage Hub, showed him striking the stallion repeatedly with a narrator saying the horse was 'traumatised in every state'. Equestrian Australia said it was 'extremely alarmed and concerned'. 'Equestrian Australia has imposed a provisional suspension of this person's membership of Equestrian Australia and their rights, privileges and benefits associated with their membership,' it added. The ban will remain in place pending an investigation by its integrity unit. Ryan, a former three-time Australian three-day event champion, defended his actions, saying it had been a 'life or death moment' for the horse, named Nico. He said the six-year-old had always been a 'problem child' and was destined for the knackery after an incident with a family friend that left her in intensive care. 'I felt obliged to the horse to just have a look and see if it was possibly salvageable,' he said. 'That video was a life or death moment for Nico and I genuinely had to try my very hardest to see if Nico would consider other options. 'All of this transpired sincerely with the horse's best interests the sole consideration. Unbelievably, it was so successful for everyone except me with the release of this video.' He claimed the video was two years old and posted by a disgruntled ex-employee, with Nico now thriving in a new home. Three-time Olympic dressage gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin missed the Paris Games last year following a different horse-whipping controversy. The British rider was banned just days before the start of the Olympics after a video emerged showing her repeatedly striking a horse on its legs.
