THE national juniors have a big handicap which might just see them reeling and tumbling at the Junior World Cup (JWC) in Bhubaneswar, which starts tomorrow.
No, it is not the long and tedious journey to Bhubaneswar.
From Kuala Lumpur, the team were offloaded in Doha for a 14-hour transit, followed by a flight to Chennai. They spent another 18 hours in transit before boarding another flight to Bhubaneswar.
The main problem is actually their direct entry into the JWC, with no chance to play in a qualifier, which worries many officials.
Wallace Tan's boys are in Group A with Belgium, South American champions Chile and African champions South Africa. Asian teams did not go through a qualifier due to Covid-19.
The Junior Asia Cup was postponed several times before it was cancelled by the Asian Hockey Federation.
As a result, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Malaysia were given the nod based on their senior world rankings.
Malaysia have to beat two teams in their group to qualify for the quarter-finals.
"It is a slight disadvantage for Malaysia and other Asian teams in the JWC. Other continents had their qualifiers," said team manager I. Vikneswaran in Bhubaneswar yesterday.
As a result, Malaysia will play a tested strategy for results and not take any team lightly.
"We should not take Chile lightly as they had defeated Argentina and Canada in the South American qualifiers.
"However, we were lucky enough to get two warm-up matches here to test the pitch ahead of our Chile game on Wednesday. "We will plan accordingly for this game."
Malaysia played Argentina and the Netherlands in recent warm-up matches.
The goal in Bhubaneswar is to qualify for the quarter-finals as it will boost Malaysia's confidence when they host the 2023 edition.
Meanwhile, Perak edged Pahang 2-1 to win their 11th men's Razak Cup crown in Bukit Jalil on Sunday.
JWC GROUPINGS
Group A: Belgium, Malaysia, Chile, South Africa; Group B: India, Canada, France, Poland; Group C: Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, United States; Group D: Germany, Argentina, Pakistan, Egypt.
FIXTURES
Tomorrow: Group A: Belgium v South Africa, Malaysia v Chile (2.30pm, Malaysian time); Group B: Canada v Poland, India v France; Group D: Germany v Pakistan.