Our women’s team miss out on ACT bronze to China

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian women’s hockey team missed out on the bronze medal in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) after failing to repeat their 2013 heroics against China.

The team fell 0-2 to China in the bronze medal playoff thanks to a brace from Song Xiaoming, who scored from a penalty corner (15th minute) and a field goal (53rd) at the Sunrise Stadium in Donghae, South Korea, yesterday.

Malaysia beat China 3-1 to finish third in the 2013 ACT in Japan but their fourth-place finish this time is an improvement from their fifthplace finish in the 2016 ACT in Singapore.

The team nicknamed the Tigress, ranked 22nd in the world and fifth in Asia, had earlier lost their group stage match 1-3 to China, who are ranked eight in the world and second in Asia.

Team coach K. Dharmaraj said the team improved in every game and he was proud of the players’ fighting spirit.

“Overall there was a marked improvement in their performances and I for one am glad to see the fighting spirit in them,” said Dharmaraj yesterday.

“We were observing our opponents and trying to find weaknesses we could exploit in every game.

“We were a bit unlucky to concede that first goal a minute before the first quarter ended. However we didn’t give up and continued to play hard despite Amirah (Shakirah Zulkifli) getting a yellow card and sitting out for 10 minutes.

“All these teams are the full World Cup squad and we gave them a run for their money, so I’m proud of the team’s performance.”

The team started their campaign with defeats by South Korea (1-3) and China (1-3) in their opening two matches before bouncing back to stun Japan 3-2.

They were edged 2-3 by India in the last group match but it was enough for them to finish fourth ahead of Japan in the five-team group and advance to the bronze medal match play-off.

Dharmaraj took a massive gamble for this tournament by dropping seniors Siti Rahmah Othman, Norbaini Hashim, Fazilla Sylvester Silin and Norazlin Sumantri.

In their place, he roped in players from the national Under-17 side and the five-a-side bronze medal winning team at the Youth Olympic qualifiers last month.

The newbies Nur Maizatulhanim Syafi Sheik Fuad and Nor Asfarina Isahyifika Isahhiddun plus national team returnees Nurul Syafiqa Mat Isa and Nur Zafirah Aziz, proved their mettle in Donghae.

Dharmaraj, a former Olympian, the next task is to prepare for the Asian Games in Indonesia from Aug 18-Sept 2.