Hockey: Malaysia Expects A Tough Match Against Japan On Saturday

IPOH (Perak, Malaysia), April 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia can expect a tough time when they play against Japan in the opening match of the 2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men's International Hockey tournament here, Saturday. However, national team head coach Stephen Van Huizen believes his charges are capable of putting up a strong performance in the match against Japan at Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium, scheduled at 8.35pm. "We expect to have a good game on Saturday. Looking at the video of past matches against Japan, we can expect a tough game. "We will try to do better than last year when he won 4th place in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament," he told a press conference at here, Friday. Meanwhile, Malaysian team captain Mohd Shukri Abdul Mutalib is counting on home ground advantage to beat Japan on Saturday. "We are aware of their weaknesses and and strengths and vice versa. The players are going for a win against Japan,” he added. Meanwhile, tournament director Josh Burt said the use of video referral technology (VRT) this year would allow the players to challenge a decision made by the umpires. "The decision was made by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation, noting that it had previously been used locally during the World League 2 competition. "With VRT, players will be able to refer a decision if they feel it was not right or if the umpires missed something. If their referral is incorrect, they will lose the (chance to get another) referral. But if they get it right, they can keep the referral and use it again later," he said. --BERNAMA