Malaysia go down fighting to India in Asia Cup Group A tie

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia did well to hold on until the last six minutes before going down fighting 2-0 to India in the women’s Asia Cup hockey tournament Group A match in Japan.

A Vandana Katariya field goal in the 54th minute and a Gurjit Kaur penalty corner goal a minute later sealed Malaysia’s fate at the Gifu Stadium in Kakamigahara yesterday.

Malaysia, thus, finished third in the group with one win and two losses.

Malaysia lost 5-4 to top-ranked China in the opening match last Saturday but they bounced back to outplay Singapore 8-0 on Monday.

India top the group with a 100% record – winning all three matches.

In an earlier match, China outplayed Singapore 7-0 to finish second in the group.

All eight teams will feature in the quarter-finals.

Malaysia will face Group B runners-up Japan for a place in the semi-finals tomorrow.

National coach K. Dharmaraj praised his team for playing their hearts out against India.

“This was the best match they’ve played since I took over in January last year,” he said.

“We were unfortunate against India as Siti Rahmah (Othman) converted a penalty corner in third quarter but the goal was disallowed by the umpire because we stopped the ball on the semi-circle line.

“The rules states that we must stop it outside the semi-circle.

“We continued pressuring India and were unlucky that two attempts by Siti Rahmah and Nur Syafiqah (Mohd Zain) hit the post.”

Four teams – China, South Korea, Japan and India – have already qualified for 2018 World Cup in London.

Malaysia must win this tournament to qualify for World Cup Finals.