On-song Indian men take on Malaysia in semis today
Barring the 1-4 loss to Pakistan, Malaysia too had a good run in the pool stage.
Jakarta: Brimming with confidence after scoring record number of goals, title holders India will be eyeing another dominant outing as they take on tricky Malaysia in the semifinal of the men’s hockey at the Asian Games on Thursday.
India displayed great attacking hockey in the pool stages and pumped in as many as 76 goals in five matches here to create the world record of maximum goals ever scored in a tournament.
In the 110 years of international hockey, the 76 goals is the highest-ever scored by any team in a tournament, bettering Argentina’s record of 68 goals scored in Pan-Am Cup in London (Ontario-Canada) in 2004.
The defending champions were simply unstoppable as they scored thumping wins over Indonesia (17-0), Hong Kong (26-0), Japan (8-0), Korea (5-3) and Sri Lanka (20-0) to top Pool A. And going by form and class, India will be the favourites to prevail over Malaysia, who finished second in Pool B behind Pakistan.
Barring the 1-4 loss to Pakistan, Malaysia too had a good run in the pool stage. They might be ranked 12th in the world, but Malaysia is a team which has been a thorn in the flesh for world number five 5 India off late.
The Indians didn’t have a good record against Malaysia last year, having lost to them twice, first a 2-3 defeat in the World League semis in London and then the 0-1 loss in the Azlan Shah Cup.