Sasc Provides Insights Into Malaysia's Asian Games Gold, La28 Qualification Challenges

By Vikneswaran Raman

IPOH, May 12 (Bernama) -- Japan, the newly crowned Sultan Azlan Shah Cup champions, and runners-up Pakistan, demonstrated promising potential for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games during the invitational hockey tournament at the Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium here. 

The Malaysian team, now under the guidance of former international Sarjit Singh who took over in early March, has much ground to cover to challenge for Asian Games gold and secure early qualifications for the Los Angeles 2028 (LA28) Olympics, ending a drought of over two decades.

The 30th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (SASC), held from May 4-11, served as a proving ground for the participating teams—Malaysia, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Canada—to expose and test new talent aimed at building a strong squad for the next Olympic cycle.

The SASC provided an early indication of the Asian Games, featuring all the major Asian hockey powers— world number 12 South Korea, Malaysia (13), Japan (15), and Pakistan (16) — with the notable absence of world number six and the sole Asian team to have qualified for the Olympics, India, who are focusing on preparations for Paris 2024.

Japan emerged as a team to watch for the 2026 Asiad, not only as the host nation but also due to their promising display throughout the SASC.

Japanese tactician Yoshihiro Anai, 36, arrived in Ipoh with a youthful team, with only four players having earned more than 100 caps and three making their international debut in the tournament. The average age of the 18-member squad was only 24.17 years.

Despite their relative inexperience, the Japanese surprised as dark horses of the 30th SASC, employing their secret ‘Samurai principles’ to claim their maiden title in their first-ever final, defeating three-time champions Pakistan 4-1 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 tie in regular time in the finals on Saturday.

Japan’s well-organised gameplay and rock-solid defence posed a formidable challenge for opponents, conceding only seven goals throughout the tournament, with wins over South Korea (2-1), New Zealand (4-1), Malaysia (2-1), Canada (3-1), and a draw (1-1) against Pakistan in the round-robin stage, advancing them unbeaten to the finals.

Yoshihiro said his main mission for this SASC was to refine his defensive structure, a task the Japanese executed well, maintaining a fortress-like defence. Looking ahead, he intends to focus on enhancing tactical attacking build-up.

Pakistan, under Dutchman Roelant Oltmans, displayed individual skills but lacked cohesive team performance compared to Japan. They aim to improve for the upcoming Nations Cup from May 31 to June 9 in Poland, as part of their Pro League ambitions.

As for hosts Malaysia, who fell short of the title by finishing fourth, the team comprised players with an average age of 26, including four aged 30 and above with over 100 caps, namely captain Muhammad Marhan Jalil (34), Mohammad Fitri Saari (31), Faizal Saari (33), and stopper Muhammad Hafizuddin Othman (32).

The Speedy Tigers emerged as the highest goal-scorers in the tournament with 20 goals in six matches, with Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal leading the tally with eight goals. Young forward Azimuddin Syakir Kamaruddin (18), alongside veterans Faizal and Muhammad Hafizuddin, delivered noteworthy performances.

However, defensively, the national team needs to minimise errors and improve structure after conceding 15 goals overall, and also must be more clinical in attacking opportunities, having only converted five goals from 24 penalty corners, a 20.1 percent success rate.

Sarjit, who assumed leadership of the team in early March, said that the new crop of youngsters in the team will require time to acclimate to the system, with each player needing about 40 international matches to hit peak performance.

With about two years to build a formidable team for the Asian Games, scheduled from Sep 19 to Oct 4, Sarjit faces the challenge of refining a 30-player squad to contend for gold and secure tickets to LA28, after Malaysia last qualified for the Olympics in the Sydney 2000 edition.

While the 13th-ranked Malaysian team can challenge any Asian rival, qualifying for the Olympics and competing with the world's top 10 requires significant improvement beyond international tours.

Sustained participation of national players in overseas club competitions, particularly in Europe, and engagement in the Pro League — featuring the world's nine best teams including Argentina, Australia, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, and India—will be pivotal for Malaysia's hockey development.

Engaging in high-intensity matches against top-tier hockey nations will undoubtedly elevate Malaysia's hockey standards, though funding remains a concern.

Qualifying for the Pro League presents a challenge, as only the Nations Cup champion earns qualification. Besides Malaysia and Pakistan, other Nations Cup participants include Austria, Canada, France, South Korea, New Zealand, South Africa and hosts Poland.

-- BERNAMA