India Men Team vies for a win against Malaysia in the Quarter-Finale clash of the FINTRO World Hockey League Semi-Final 2015

New Delhi, 30^th June 2015: After facing the only defeat in the Pool matches against Australia, India Men team is geared-up for their Quarter-Final match against Malaysia in the ongoing FINTRO World Hockey League Semi-Final 2015, to be held on 01 July 2015, in Antwerp, Belgium. India’s previous encounter with the FIH Rank # 12 team finished with a defeat during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015. This time around the team will look at avenging the defeat and a win which will ensure a Semi-Final spot.

The team in the previous clashes performed impressively with their 10-on-10 strategy, which has yielded positive results till now. Winning the first two matches against France and Poland, Indian team drew with Pakistan in the nail-biting match. Indians tasted their only defeat against FIH Rank # 1 Australia, who are riding on their brilliant form and won all three league matches in Pool A. The Indian attack will be dependent on forward player Ramandeep Singh, who is showcasing his high-class finishing skills in the tournament. With four field goals, he is among top four goal-scorers in the tournament and the opposition tomorrow cannot afford to ignore his moves during the match.

India’s midfield, led by skipper Sardar Singh, showed a new zeal in them as they effectively keeping ball possession and created effective opportunities for the team to score. Gurbaj Singh, who played his 200th international match on 28th June during the league match against Australia, along with Chinglensana Singh, Dharamvir Singh and young Lalit Upadhyay have been playing a important role in defending as well as supporting the attack.

In the match against FIH Rank # 12 Malaysia, Indians need to restrict their three best players – Muhammad Shamsul, Razie Rahim and Izwan Firdaus Ahmad Tajuddin – who have a history of surprising their opponents and have scored two goals each in their Pool B league matches. Riding on them, Malaysia outplayed China and stunned Ireland to finish at third position in their Pool.

Speaking after a practice session, Captain Sardar Singh said, “The Quarter-Final will be tougher and all the teams will enhance their strategies to qualify for Semi-Finals. Our plans for the quarter-final are ready and now we have to implement the strategies on the field. We are not taking Malaysia lightly as they have the ability to perform at the highest level. We will play as per our strategies of all attacks and try to score maximum goals in the first two quarters to put them in pressure”.

Commenting on tomorrow’s match against Malaysia, Chief Coach Paul van Ass said,“Malaysia is a good team and they are among the top four teams of Asia, so there is no point of taking the match easily. We are focussing on match by match and preparing for each team differently. We will stick on to our 10-on-10 strategy and attack with full force. Malaysia recently defeated India, so we have to perform better than them and reach the Semi-Final. Our players are in good shape and in-form, they just have to continue their performance. We are looking forward to the match and determined to reach the Semi-Final.”

India will face Malaysia in their Quarter-Final match of the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 at 21:30 IST on the 1st July 2015. The matches will be telecasted LIVE on Star Sports.