IPOH: The national hockey squad got off on the wrong foot when they lost 0-3 to South Korea in their opening match of the Sultan Azlan Shah (SAS) Cup played at Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium tonight.
The Speedy Tigers failed to redeem their loss to the South Koreans in the 2022 Asian Cup final in June at the Gelora Karno Stadium (GBK), Jakarta Indonesia.
The Koreans were in full control from the start which left head coach A. Arul Selvaraj’s squad in a daze when the visitors drew first blood in the ninth minute, courtesy of Jang Jonghyun from a penalty corner.
South Koreans were two up thanks to Kim Hyeonhong who converted a penalty corner in the 29th minute to completely beat national keeper, Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman.
The score remained unchanged until the third quarter of the game which saw both teams exchanging attacks but South Korea scored their third goal in the 32nd minute through Jang Jonghyun and the score remained until the end of the last quarter.
Meanwhile, Arul Selvaraj at his press conference admitted to being a little disappointed with the level of his men’s game tonight.
“We lost tonight because of penalty corners. All three goals by the South Koreans tonight came from penalty corners.
“I have never blamed my players but tonight I am disappointed with our goalkeeper, Hafizuddin must take responsibility,” he said.
For the match against Pakistan tomorrow, Arul Selvaraj said he was still juggling with the players and wanted them to focus on registering on the team’s first win.-Bernama