Razie comes to the rescue
Draw with South Korea pits Malaysia against Pakistan in semis
KUANTAN: Malaysia ended their Asian Champions Trophy preliminary round with a 1-1 draw against South Korea – and set up a semi-final showdown against defending champions Pakistan.
It was the first stalemate for Malaysia in the tournament at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.
They finished second in the standings with 10 points, behind leaders India (13pts).
India will take on fourth-placed South Korea in the other semi-final tomorrow.
Malaysia and South Korea had already qualified for the semi-finals prior to their match yesterday. The only interest in the match was the final placings.
There were three notable changes to the Malaysian line-up. Goalkeeper S. Kumar was rested and in came Mohd Haifizuddin Othman. Mohd Haziq Shamsul and Fitri Saari were also not on the starting list.
Malaysia also did not feature forward Mohd Firhan Azhaari, who had to sit out a one-match suspension.
It was clear from the start that Malaysia were hoping to conserve their energy for the semi-finals by deciding to give the fringe players more time on the pitch.
But that did not make them any weaker as they kept attacking the speedy South Koreans.
After two scrappy quarters, the South Koreans finally took the lead in the third. A quick counter attack from the right allowed Jeong Jun-woo to score from close range.
The Koreans had six penalty corners but failed to convert any.
Malaysia hit pay dirt when they earned their third penalty corner in the 56th minute, with Mohd Razie Rahim equalising.
Pakistan ended their round-robin stage with a 4-0 thumping of China earlier.
The defending champions had to win to make the semi-finals. They were slow off the blocks, but ended it in style.
Abdul Haseem Khan scored a brace in the 21st and 31st minutes while Ali Shan (48th) and Mohamed Irfan Junior (49th) added one apiece.