| Sarjit - 'We want to play Korea'
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Chennai
September 6, 2007
Former Malaysian captain and at present the national coach of the Malaysian team, Sarjit Singh, seems to be on a roll. Malaysia for the first time in their hockey history has topped their Pool in the Asia Cup. Though their opponent hasn’t been decided yet, Sarjit feels that playing South Korea would be better for his team.
Q: You were 0-3 down against Pakistan. Did at any point you feel that the match was gone?
Sarjit: Pakistan played very well in the first half and they did deserve their 3-0 lead. We were trying to come out and utilize our chances but their defence played well. Then we also had a yellow card against us and it was then that Pakistan scored twice. But in the second half, I told the players that they would have to play up and take the fight into the Pakistan half. They did well and I am glad that they didn’t give up. I was worried when we got another yellow card in the 55th minute but the boys pushed and earned that penalty stroke that enabled us to draw the match 3-3.
Q: It’s a time for preparing the squad for the Olympic Qualifiers…
Sarjit: I have always said that we are training with the 2012 London Olympics as our target. Of course, we also want to do well in the Olympic qualifiers and play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and then the Commonwealth Games and the 2010 World Cup. But, yes, the team is young and we are looking forward to doing well after they have come truly into their own as a team.
Q: Your semi-final opponent is still undecided. It could be South Korea or China or would you have preferred to play India?
Sarjit: A team should be ready to play anyone. Of course, India is playing on home grounds and they would be tough. Any team that plays on home turf is always difficult to beat. I would like to meet Korea in the semi-finals. Not because they are a weak team but simply because I as a coach want my team to play more matches against South Korea. They are in the top four in the world rankings and they are a hard team to beat.
Archive : Kim Sang Ryul - 'India played very well'
Islah is confident
| Schedule |
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Final Standings :
1. India
2. S Korea
3. Malaysia
4. Japan
5. China
6. Pakistan
7. Bangladesh
8. Hong Kong
9. Sri Lanka
10. Singapore
11. Thailand
Sunday's Matches  |
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| TEAM A | TEAM B | Playoff | TIME | RESULT | |||
| S Lanka | SPore | 9/10 | 08:00 | 6-0 | |||
| Ban | HKG | 7/8 | 07:00 | 3-1 | |||
| China | Pak | 5/6 | 09:30 | 3-2 | |||
| Malaysia | Japan | 3/4 | 16:00 | 5-3 | |||
| India | S Korea | 1/2 | 18:30 | 7-2 | |||
|
Saturday's Matches |
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| TEAM A | v | TEAM B | TIME | RESULT | |||
| Singapore | v | Thailand | 08:00 | 4-0 | |||
| Pak | v | Ban | 07:00 | 10-0 | |||
| China | v | HongKong | 09:30 | 6-1 | |||
| S Korea | v | Malaysia | 17:00 | 2-1 | |||
| India | v | Japan | 19:30 | 4-1 | |||
|
SCORE TABLE |
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| POOL A | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Malaysia SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 10 | |
| Japan SF | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 9 | |
| Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 7 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 3 | |
| Singapore | 4 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 0 | ||
| POOL B | |||||||
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| India SF | 5 | 5 | 46 | 2 | 15 | ||
| S Korea SF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 8 | 10 |
| China | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 6 | 10 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 6 | |
| Sri Lanka | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 46 | 3 | |
| Thailand | 5 | 5 | 1 | 67 | 0 | ||
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 A team should be ready to play anyone. Of course, more |
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