Malaysia’s hopes of making final in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup dashed

IPOH: Malaysia’s hopes of making a sixth final appearance in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament did not see fruition when they lost 1-2 to South Korea in their fourth preliminary match at the Azlan Shah Stadium here Wednesday night.

Instead, it was the Koreans who booked their slot in the final against India who had drubbed Canada 7- 3 in an earlier match at the same venue.

Both teams have an unassailable 10 points after four out of five matches while nearest contenders Malaysia and Canada have only six points each.

Malaysia known as the Speedy Tigers wasted no time in going after the Korean goal but their defence was too tight.

Malaysia almost went ahead in the 15th minute but Muhammad Firhan Ashaari’s goal was not allowed by the referee because he was ruled to have fouled a South Korean player in the D.

Despite all their efforts, it was the Malaysians who were stunned when South Korean captain Lee Namyong scored a field goal in the 31st minute.

Thereafter, things only took a turn for the worse. Jang Jonghyun found South Korea’s second via a penalty corner in the 35th minute.

However, Razie Rahim made amends for Malaysia when he converted a penalty corner in the 46th minute which boosted the spirit of the homesters.

Razie came close to levelling the score in the 58th minute via a penalty corner only to be denied by South Korean keeper Kim Jaehyon and thus ended Malaysia’s hopes of being in the final.

Afterwards, Malaysia’s coach Roelant Oltmans said the defeat was because his boys did not capitalise on the many opportunities that presented themselves in front of the Korean goalmouth.

Nevertheless, he said that he was happy with their fighting spirit and hoped that they would do their best in their final preliminary match.