KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — National men’s hockey squad head coach, Roelant Oltmans, reminded the Malaysian Tigers to cut down their mistakes ahead of their final meeting with world number seven, Great Britain, in the final Olympic Qualifiers match at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, United Kingdom, late today.
The 65-year-old Dutchman revealed that the national side committed a number of errors in the second quarter which allowed the hosts to bounce back and clinched a comfortable 4-1 win in the first Olympic Qualifiers match yesterday (today in Malaysia).
“It’s good to see we control the first quarter of the match, but it is not good to see how we play in the second half, especially in the third quarter and it is important for us to play consistently throughout the game.
“Sometimes, we did not perform well in a few sections, and it happen again in this match,” he was quoted in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) website.
Nevertheless, Oltmans is still upbeat that the Malaysian Tigers squad can claw their way back in the final match to secure a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Echoing his sentiments was captain Mohamad Sukri Abdul Mutalib who believed the team still have a chance to make it to the Olympics, having being last featured in the 2000 edition in Sydney, Australia.
“If we get the first goal (in the final match) it is game on. We need to score early and pose a threat to the opponents,” he added.
In the first match, Malaysia drew the first blood through Nabil Fiqri Mohd Noor in the sixth minute, only to see the hosts replied with four goals via Sam Ward in the 32rd minute, Phil Roper (41st minute), Alan Forsyth (42nd minute) and James Gall in the 47th minute. — Bernama
