Draws, rain rule in Ipoh

A RAGING thunderstorm and painful delays saw three draws on the opening day of the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh yesterday.

Malaysia drew 1-1 with Japan, Australia 1-1 with New Zealand while India and Britain settled for a 2-2 result.

All the matches were moved two hours from their original starting times, due to the inclement weather which has been a norm in this city over the last two weeks.

Razie Rahim gave Malaysia the lead off a seventh minute penalty corner, but Shota Yamada’s 40th minute penalty corner goal stood until the final whistle.

“After taking the lead, we failed to settle down and score more and that was our main fault in this game. We also failed to score off the five penalty corners we received, and could not make use of our better possession and 10 shots at goal.

“Tomorrow (today) we face a tougher match against Australia, and we need to forget this game and re-group for this grueling encounter,” said Malaysia coach Stephen van Huizen.

India coach Roelant Oltmans said: “I can learn to accept this result. Obviously playing in Malaysia, we (all teams) have to be prepared for the weather and the long delay did not affect our momentum.

“My only disappointment is we did not make good use of our chances and only earned one penalty corner. The younger players gave a good performance, including Sumit who is making his debut with the seniors. Like I said, I can accept the result as we played well overall.”

RESULTS: Britain 2 India 2, New Zealand 1 Australia 1, Malaysia 1 Japan 1.

TODAY: India v New Zealand (4pm), Japan v Britain (6pm), Malaysia v Australia (8.30pm). Jugjet Singh