HOCKEY / Japan and China add new dimension to continental rivalry

Intrigue fills KL Asia Cup race 

Even as the best in Europe battled it out in far away Barcelona last week, another continental potboiler — the Asia Cup hockey championship — will get under way in Kuala Lumpur from September 21. While the European Nations Cup, which concluded in the Spanish city on Sunday, was the platform to choose the qualifier for Athens Olympics, the Asia Cup will act as a base to pick a World Cup qualifier for Germany in 2006.

Although the carrot of a berth in the World Cup will not be as motivating a prize as the Olympic qualification, a good three years away as the tournament still is, the teams will not be holding back as far as effort is concerned.

South Korea for one will not be. “We want to prove we are the best in Asia,” coach Jae Hong Jeon, who was at the Champions Trophy in Amstelveen last month had said. The Asian Games gold in Busan last year, which ensured an automatic Olympic berth for them, is seemingly not enough proof of their supremacy in the region.

The fact that Jeon was in Amstelveen should make the Indians wary as he is sure to have used up plenty of handycam time videotaping the activity of coach Rajinder Singh’s men. Pakistan coach Tahir Zaman would also do well to conceive new plans to vault over the Korean hurdle, Sohail Abbas, their main weapon, almost sure to have been Jeon’s main focus.

It is clear that these three teams will be the frontrunners for the top prize at the Malaysian capital given the distance they have travelled in world hockey. South Korea, till last year, were among the top six in the world while India and Pakistan, going by the recent Champions Trophy results, have retained themselves in the big league. As such contests among these three are sure to be the high points of the tournament.

What will form interesting sidelights will be the performance of China and Japan. Jeon had said that China was a team to watch, and going by the results of the Test series against Malaysia earlier this year, China, who drew the first match and lost the other three by close margins, have proved that they are making a steady climb to the top, at least in Asia.

Japan, on the other hand, have been surprise elements and the trouble they posed to India in the opening match of the World Cup in 2002 where they forced a 2-2 draw speaks of their ability to rattle even the best of teams.
The displays of Japan and China, while at times being difficult to digest, does augur well for the continent. A much bigger Asian representation is assured.

Of course, their styles may be different, the skills of the Indians and Pakistanis or even the robustness of the South Koreans hard to imitate, but the fact that these two teams are set to storm the bastion of world hockey is heartening. Thus, the quadrennial tournament will prove an interesting barometer of the progress the remainder of the Asian teams have made in world hockey. They get a chance to measure up against the best from the continent who have in turn done battle against the best in the world.

While China and Japan can be slotted into the group of teams best placed to make the quantum leap to the top rungs, Malaysia are in a unique position. They have already made the jump from the list of also-rans to strong contenders, but are still some distance away from showing the consistency that India, Pakistan and South Korea have. 

Strangely, Malaysia have always fallen short on the international stage. They are yet to make a Champions Trophy entry after 1993, their most recent attempt at the Champions Challenge in South Africa in July ending in disaster as they brought up the rear from a total of six teams. Winning scorelines are yet to become the norm against the big guns. Once that is achieved with regularity, maybe a strong fourth team from Asia could become a frequent visitor to one of the top tournaments in international hockey.

Coming back to the main contenders for the top spot among the other three, South Korea have not had a great 12 months after the Busan Asian Games. The Champions Challenge, which could have secured them a place in the elite six had they emerged winners, witnessed a crashlanding as they fell to Spain in the final. The Azlan Shah tournament in March was another disappointment as they finished fourth after a shock loss to New Zealand in the playoffs.

South Korea have struggled after the Sydney Olympics with the exit of some key players and, more importantly, the departure of coach Kim Sang Ryul. But they are still a dangerous opposition. India, despite some strong performances including the one in the previous edition of the tournament in 1999, have always buckled under their onslaught. 

Pakistan look formidable, the forwards dishing out some outstanding fare in the Champions Trophy. Zaman has moulded the team into a terrific unit and as such they will be hard to counter. 

To pick the teams involved in the title tilt is a tough task considering the edge each have over the other in various departments. Whoever it will be, is sure to be saved the trouble of going through the grind of playing World Cup qualifiers against a host of quality teams.

Vijay Michael Raj