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Glaring difference in quality between Malaysia and Australia

What's the difference in hockey standards between world No 1 Australia and world No 11 Malaysia? Plenty of zeroes sounds like a good answer.

After the Malaysian men's team lost 3-0 to Australia in their final match in Perth yesterday, this means that Arul Selvaraj's men were hammered by a total of 18 goals in the four-match Test series. It was so one-sided that Malaysia had none to reply, not scoring a single goal.

The national team, who are preparing for the Asia Cup in Jakarta on May 23-June 1, started the Test series with a 3-0 defeat. The second match was a 7-0 drubbing followed by 5-0 in the third. It's an unwanted record of sorts, as Malaysia failed to score in four successive matches against Australia.

In their last encounter at the Darwin International Hockey Open in 2018, Australia subdued Malaysia 5-2, and at the Azlan Shah Cup in the same year, the Kookaburras prevailed 3-1.

Hockey Australia wrote yesterday: "Two goals from Ky Willott (his first as a Kooka) and another in the series from Jeremy Hayward sees us run out 3-0 winners.

"A 4-0 sweep of the series against a Malaysia outfit that improved with every match."

Arul said: "All three goals in our final Test came from penalty corners after Australia won a total of 12.

"Like I said before, there is much work to be done in defence, especially in using more body strength.

"In the four defeats, we learned much. My players are now better prepared to mentally and physically challenge teams of this standard in the future.

"This is a big boost going into the Asia Cup where my players will chase for a win in every match."

The Malaysians will come home from Down Under with an extra baggage - four great Kookaburra lessons.

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