Penalty joy, and tears for Singapore hockey teams at 4 Nations finals

SINGAPORE – Like in football, hockey’s penalty shoot-out is a roller-coaster of pain and gain and that was certainly the case for Singapore on Dec 17, when the men’s team emerged victorious at the 4 Nations tournament while their female counterparts’ campaign ended in tears.

In the E.W. Barker Cup final, the national men’s team prevailed 4-3 in the shoot-out over world No. 61 Thailand after a 1-1 draw in regulation time. Chinese Taipei finished third with a 6-3 win over Hong Kong.

In the final played at the Sengkang Hockey Stadium, Most Valuable Player Silas Noor gave the Republic a fifth-minute lead from a penalty corner, but the visitors gradually grew into the game and Nattapong Trisom equalised from a tight angle in the 50th minute after a spell of sustained pressure.

Both teams were also evenly matched in their group stage game, with the Thais coming back from 1-3 down to draw 3-3.

But this time, 81st-ranked Singapore held their nerves in the penalty roulette, with their extra training for the shoot-out paying off.

While Silas missed the third penalty, Darren Sia, Enrico Marican and Akash Prebhash all converted before Marican stepped up again to score what proved to be the decisive penalty stroke after Hariraj Naidu was intentionally fouled by Thailand goalkeeper Wistawas Phosawang during his attempt.

Tanakit Juntakian, Pichet Chaimanee, Kraiwich Thawichat were on target for the Thais but Thanakrit Boon-art missed and Chanachol Rungniyom struck the post with his final attempt to spark off celebrations from the men in red.

On his winning penalty stroke, central midfielder Marican said: “I had just one target, knew where I wanted to put it, focused on my task and just finished it.

“After the SEA Games and Asian Games, we tried to be more mature in terms of game management.

“We did that really well in the first two quarters, moved the ball really well and were dominant, but the last 15 minutes is something we need to work on, to be more focused and intentional.”

National men’s coach Krishnan Vijayan Naidu lauded his team for showing character and discipline and hopes to get support from stakeholders, including the Ministry of Defence, to keep the bulk of his team together to train and compete.

He said: “We controlled the match early on, withstood pressure in the last quarter and came out good.

“We did great with a team of four debutants, while having three players injured for the final, in which my captain (Ashriq Zul’kepli) also got injured.

“After the high of winning the SEA Games silver and the low of losing all our Asian Games matches, I’m happy we can end the year on a high again, as we take a break before preparing for the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup next year.”

In the Annabel Pennefather Cup final, the women’s team suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in the penalty shoot-out against 37th-ranked Hong Kong after coming from behind to draw 1-1 in regulation time.

MVP Lau Pui Sze gave the visitors a 21st-minute lead from a penalty corner and world No. 29 Singapore were profligate from their own set pieces. They were also unlucky to have a goal from Ho Puay Ling ruled out at the end of the third quarter.

With their backs against the wall, Singapore coach Henry Wong went for broke and replaced goalkeeper Felissa Lai with Sardonna Ng up front – the latter then equalised with five minutes left to send the match to penalties.

But unlike the men, there would be no celebrations for them in the shoot-out.

Wong said: “We controlled the match really well and played some really good hockey but were unlucky not to score more. I’m really happy with how we played because I’ve been with the team for only six weeks.

“Getting our defence right was what we have been focusing on. Our next block of training will see a big focus on goalscoring.

“Now that we have a more high-intensity and aggressive style of play, we got to get a little bit fitter as well. Once we get these two things, we can compete with anyone.”

The next big assignment for the team will also be the AHF Cup in the second half of 2024, and Wong noted that the friendly quadrangular proved that Singapore could compete at a high level.

He said: “The biggest thing for me in these past few weeks was helping the players gain self-belief.

“When I spoke to them individually, they didn’t really believe they could compete with the world’s best.

“But from what I’ve seen, we can play a good brand of hockey and be an amazing team as long as we improve on our fitness, ball speed and get our passing really sharp.”