NATIONAL men’s hockey head coach Sarjit Singh admits that his players’ fitness levels are still well below the standard required to match top Asian sides like South Korea, Japan, and China.
While the Speedy Tigers have shown steady improvement from match to match, Sarjit emphasised that his squad is still on a “long journey” toward reaching their peak.
“It’s still a long way because our fitness needs to be much, much better. It’s good, but not good enough. Teams like South Korea, Japan, and China aren’t just strong sides; their fitness levels are about three times higher than ours,” he said.
“If we can match that, I know our team will be heading in the right direction. Like I’ve said before, we need that experience. It’s very important. The more matches these players get, the better they’ll become,” he told reporters at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
Malaysia’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the 2024–25 Men’s FIH Hockey Nations Cup were dashed despite their 2–1 win over Japan.
Asked when the team realised there were still gaps in fitness, Sarjit said the issue had been identified early on, which is why the squad travelled to South Korea earlier this year to sharpen their game and gain valuable experience.
With a semi-final berth no longer in sight, Sarjit is now fully focused on guiding his team to a fifth-place finish and hopes fans will continue to rally behind the Speedy Tigers.
“That’s why I regrouped the boys quickly, to get the focus back. We’re now fully locked in on finishing fifth. We must get that fifth spot.
“We can’t afford to be playing for seventh or eighth, that’s not an option. South Africa will be tough, but if they play the way they’ve been playing, I don’t see why we can’t beat them,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, defender Syed Mohd Syafiq Syed Cholan echoed his coach’s sentiments, saying the team must now shift its attention to rebuilding its world ranking, which has recently slipped two spots to 15th.
“We want to push our ranking into the top 11 or 12. We don’t want to slip any further. Since the semi-final target is no longer in reach, we’re now fully focused on improving our world ranking.
“We know South Africa is ranked higher than us, so we have to beat them to collect those valuable ranking points,” he said.
Malaysia is set to play in the 5th–8th classification match and will take on South Africa this Friday.
The Speedy Tigers are determined to improve on their seventh-place finish at the 2023/2024 edition in Poland and end this campaign on a stronger note.
