GIFU: Coach Brendon Carolan admitted that lax defending led to Malaysia's 5-1 defeat against defending champions India in the Asian Games men's hockey final today.
Consequently, Malaysia missed out on an automatic qualification berth for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Carolan said poor penalty corner defending was the critical shortcoming in the match.
"Conceding soft penalty corners kind of took the game away from us, and then you have to chase the game because you are goals down," said Carolan.
"PC defence in key moments is hurting us. It almost hurt us against Pakistan, and it hurt us against today."
