It may sound like a rather erratic comment from the coach of a team aiming for nothing less than the gold medal for an automatic qualification for the London 2012 Olympics, but the Indian hockey team's chief coach Jose Brasa is spot-on when he says, "Tomorrow's semi-final is the most important match for us in the Asian Games... probably even more important than the final." However, the Spaniard's explanation makes perfect sense. "Firstly, to get to the final, we have to win the semi-final, so that makes it more important than the final. And secondly, a win in the semi-final also assures us of a medal," he told MiD DAY. India play Malaysia in the second semi-final of the Asiad here after Pakistan have taken on South Korea in the first semi-final earlier in the day. And as the year stands, the Indians don't have a great record against the Malaysians. "We lost to them very badly 1-6 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia earlier this year, and then beat then 3-2 in our opening match of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. So they are a very tough team," coach Brasa added. India will once again be relying on the penalty corner expertise of Sandeep Singh, who with 10 goals to his name here, is the current highest scorer of the tournament. Malaysia meanwhile are no pushovers in this area either. "They have more than one penalty corner specialist in Muhammad Rahim and Rahim Abd. Obviously, they too are strong in this department," said Brasa, before adding: "But Sandeep is an experienced campaigner too. He would have realised that all eyes will be on him. So he will be at his best too."

It may sound like a rather erratic comment from the coach of a team aiming for nothing less than the gold medal for an automatic qualification for the London 2012 Olympics

Semi-final more important than final, says Brasa

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Semi-final more important than final, says Brasa

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