Rampage on the pitch

THE Malaysian men’s field team thrashed Myanmar 14-0 in the final yesterday to claim hockey’s third gold of the KL Games.

And it was a milestone for Myanmar, as they won their first ever Games hockey silver.

Earlier, the women’s field and men’s indoor teams had delivered gold as promised.

The only ‘blemish’ for hockey was the bronze won by the women’s indoor team.

Malaysia are ranked World 12th in field hockey while Myanmar are 85th.

The goals were scored by Razie Rahim (first, seventh, 60th), Shahril Saabah (sixth, 27th, 29th), Meor Azuan Hasan (43rd), Faizal Shaari (46th, 58th), Aiman Nik Rosemi (47th, 58th), Fitri Shaari (47th), Azril Hassan (52nd) and Rashid Baharom (53rd).

In the third-fourth placing, Singapore beat Thailand 2-1 for the bronze.

There was never a doubt about the field players laying their hands on the gold, as Malaysia fielded their World Cup team. “We delivered gold for the nation to add to the overall tally, as Asean countries are not our rivals.

“Some of them, like Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore have improved by hiring foreign coaches and going overseas for stints, but they have a long way to catch up with Malaysia,” said coach Stephen van Huizen.

Thailand coach is South Korean Kim Kyung Soo, Malaysian K. Rajan is Singapore’s coach while Myanmar hired Pakistan’s Zahid Ali.

The next assignment for Malaysia, who have qualified for the India World Cup next year, is to improve their ranking at the Asia Cup in Bangladesh on Oct 1123. Jugjet Singh