KUALA LUMPUR – The national men’s hockey team will have a tough task getting past the group stage of the World Cup 2023 that will be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from Jan 13-29.
The Speedy Tigers, coached by A. Arul Selvaraj, have been drawn in Group C with three-time champions and last year’s finalists the Netherlands, Oceania champions New Zealand and South American continental winners Chile.
The draw ceremony was streamed live from India via the watch.hockey website today.
The Netherlands, by virtue of being runners-up of the 2018 edition, are ranked third in the world while New Zealand are ranked ninth, Malaysia (10th) and Chile (23rd).
Based on their head-to-head record with the Dutch, Malaysia only won once – 2-1 – at the 1975 edition of the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, drew 0-0 at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and lost 11 other match-ups.
At the last edition of the World Cup in India in 2018, the Dutch hammered the Speedy Tigers 7-0.
The Speedy Tigers booked their ticket to the World Cup 2023 after emerging runner-ups in the Asia Cup in May.
This is the ninth time Malaysia will be playing in the World Cup, with their best-ever achievement being a fourth placing in 1975.
Meanwhile, Arul, in a video clip shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) today, said his target for the Speedy Tigers was for them to clear the group stage and qualify for the quarter-finals.
He, however, said his charges would need to be smart in adopting the right strategy against the Netherlands, besides setting his sights on victories over New Zealand and Chile.
“Our preparation is based on our training so far as well as friendlies in Europe and the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022,” he said.
The Groupings:
Group A: Australia, Argentina, France, South Africa
Group B: Belgium (defending champions), Germany, South Korea, Japan
Group C: Netherlands, New Zealand, MALAYSIA, Chile
Group D: India, England, Spain, Wales.
