Grouped with South Korea, China, Oman and Singapore, the fixture list indicates that the last match against China will be crucial as it will determine their semis date.
And after that, they will either square off against India or Pakistan in the last four.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) has set a lofty target of winning gold, which will earn the team direct entry into the 2012 London Olympics, but it is too far fetched a target to reach with the present batch of players.
"When I watched them play against India in the Commonwealth Game, I was surprised with the level of their play as there was great determination and even though we lost (3-2) it indicated that our boys can play hockey," said MHF president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
"But after that I don't know what happened to them in New Delhi as their remaining matches were a total washout."
Tengku Abdullah had targeted gold for the Asiad, but after New Delhi, he feels they must enter the semi-finals to have a chance of playing in the Olympics Qualifier.
"If they can't win gold, the least I expect is that they play in the Qualifier as it would give us another shot at the Olympics," he said.
His target of breaking into the top-10 bracket also depends on the Asian Games performance.
"When I took over (two years ago) we were No 16 and have moved up one rung since. But from what I see their performance has stagnated as we have not taken a slide, but neither have we improved on the world stage.
"That is why we need a fantastic result in China to finally break free."
The last edition in Doha was a nightmare as Malaysia needed to score at least seven goals against Hong Kong to qualify for the semi-finals, but could only win 2-1 for sixth placing which was the worst in history.
And Guangzhou could be the same if Malaysia do not hammer Singapore by at least eight goals in their opening match.
As for the women, they qualified to play in the 2006 Doha Games after a lapse of 24 years and finished fifth.
The Malaysian Women's Hockey Federation has set a target of finishing fourth this time.
Read more: NST/
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