ACT: India eyes an improved show against Malaysia

Already assured of a spot in the semifinals with three wins in as many games, unbeaten India and Malaysia will face-off in a potential battle for the top spot on the Asian Champions Trophy points table here on Sunday but with very different targets in mind.

India had a wake-up call against a resilient Japan and Saturday’s break would help Craig Fulton’s boys to refresh, regroup and relook at their performance. Even though India has had the upper hand against Malaysia over the past decade — its last defeat came in the 2018 Asian Games semifinals in the shootout – the Speedy Tigers have always been tricky opponents.

A stroke of luck and the lone penalty corner in the final quarter helped the home team break the shackles against Japan. “Sometimes when you play a lot of easy games, it just kind of changes perspective and you think you’re just going to walk in and beat everyone by six-seven goals. And it (the challenge) is good. You don’t always get what you want and you have to find a way,” Fulton admitted.

India will also hope to cut down on the mistakes that marred its previous outing. Sanjay and Jarmanpreet need to get more disciplined in the defence. The midfield struggled to find openings against the Japanese. Abhishek, who struck twice, agreed it was much-needed. “Yes, it was a wake-up call. Japan played well, but if we play to our plan, I am sure we can do better against Malaysia,” he said.

The last time the two teams met was in the final of the recent Asian Games which India won 5-1 to qualify for the LA Olympics.

“We don’t just look to finish in top two but we want to close the gap with the big teams,” Malaysia head coach Brendon Carolan said.