| Fadhil Yunus |
HONG Kong cemented top place in the pool stage after preserving their perfect record in a 2-0 win over Pakistan at the 3rd Women’s Asian Hockey Challenge at the Hockey Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex yesterday.
The highest ranked side in the tournament also collected their fourth clean sheet and looked in great shape to take down the title judging from their perfect campaign thus far.
The pair is poised to meet again in the final tomorrow though Hong Kong pulled a win without necessarily hitting top gear.
Tiffany Chan continued her fine goal-scoring form with a double all coming in the first half and consolidated her lead at the top of the scoring charts with 10 goals to her name.
Pakistan coach Muhammad Khan claimed his side could perform much better considering that Hong Kong was playing a casual game.
The world number 58 may have minimised the scores in their rematch but Khan felt that there was still room for improvement for his charges ahead of a probable final tomorrow.
When asked if they have improved, Khan replied, “No, I don’t think so. They (Hong Kong) have planned to play a very casual game. They’re keeping themselves for the final. I know them.
“Our players did well compared to the last one but still they could have done much more because they were planning for a very casual match.”
“Our girls are not playing their own game as I feel they can because they were much better when we drew against them last year.”
The pair could not be separated following a 1-1 draw when they met at a competitive meet in the 4th Women’s AHF Cup last October in Bangkok.
“The girls were totally upset in the last match but today they slightly moved better and in our next match in the final we’re hoping to give them a tough time,” he continued.
Despite Brunei Darussalam finding the competition to be tough compared to the previous edition where they had a shot of winning bronze in Bangkok, Khan noted some positives and possible additions to the squad.
“With the Brunei team, I’m very impressed with the right and left fullback. The player is very confident and particularly their captain (Rokiah Kesut),” said the coach.
However, he highlighted the need to introduce a certain type of player who can be a valuable asset to the team.
“They need to have some players who can really run with the ball. And that can be created depending on the coach.”
He added that one solution of identifying a new member who possesses such quality is to acquire a player who specialises in athletics.
“We also chose a player who has an athletics background and they can also find someone similar.”
Khan also stressed on the need to recruit a foreign coach to assist on steering the national team.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong captain Ka I Lo said that they performed as how they planned during the victory.
“We’ll stick to what we know and we stick to what we’re confident in. We’re going to keep scoring goals,” she added.
Brunei will conclude their pool stage play against Pakistan today with the latter most likely occupying the second qualifying berth for the title showdown.
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