Asian Games 2018: How Malaysian goalkeeper planned Indian hockey team downfall

India hockey players wear a dejected look after losing to Malaysia in the semi-final at Jakarta yesterday. Pic/AFP

Malaysian goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam, 38, was the oldest man on the field during the first hockey semi-final against India yesterday. But, with age comes invaluable experience, and it was Kumar's advice that proved vital in the end as World No. 12 Malaysia stunned a much higher ranked No. 5 India 7-6 via the shootout.

"In the shootout, I asked my players to watch out for India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh's stick. He is very good with his stick, so I told them to stay away from the striking range of his stick," Kumar told mid-day moments after the thrilling win.

Subramaniam

In the shootout, as many as five of the Malaysian strikers - ­Mohammad Fitri Saari, Meor Mumhamad Azuan Hasan, Failsal Saari and veteran Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin - ensured they didn't get too close to Sreejesh's stick-wielding right hand and instead kept the ball on their right (Sreejesh's left) and converted their attempts.

Interestingly, Kumar and Sreejesh are the best of friends. "Sree and I go back a long way. I've known him since the last 10 years. We discuss a lot, both about the game and even other things in general whenever we meet at tournaments or even on the Internet [Facebook]. He's a fine goalkeeper and I have immense respect for him," said Kumar, adding that he has also been closely monitoring Sreejesh's game over the years.

"Yes, I have watched a lot of his videos, so I know what his game is like," said Kumar, who was brilliant throughout the 60-minute encounter as well as the edge-of-the-seat shootout that followed. Time and again, Kumar denied Indian forwards SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh and Mandeep Singh, besides thwarting a host of penalty corners by drag flick exponents Rupinder Pal Singh and Harmanpreet Singh. The latter, however, finally broke the deadlock in the third quarter, beating Kumar with a powerful flick. Off a brilliantly worked out counter-attack, Muhammed Fitr Saari broke ahead and hammered the ball into the Indian circle, where Faizal Saari tapped it in for 1-1.

India went ahead again, this time through an indirect penalty corner conversion as Harmanpreet relayed the ball to Varun Kumar, who pushed home. Then, with less than two minutes from the end, Malaysia's Muhammad Abd Rahim converted a penalty corner to ensure a shootout.

Pak blame Indian officials after loss
Jakarta: Pakistan slammed Indian officials after the eight-time champions lost 0-1 to Japan in the semi-finals. Team manager and former Olympian Hasan Sardar said: "All officials, including the video umpire, were Indians. They should not have been allowed to officiate in the match. All ours referrals went against us. The video umpire supported the Japanese. This has never happened before," he said.
Harpal Singh Bedi

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates