Tuesday 26 / November / 2024
MUSCAT: Asian Games silver medallist Malaysia continued their winning streak at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament by defeating Korea 4-2 in their third preliminary match at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman on Monday.
The Malaysian Tigers, who edged 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Japan 3-0 in the opening match of the tournament on Thursday then went on to beat the hosts Oman 3-1 were up looking to garner full points against a Korean side form their third outing,
It was in the 13th minute of the first quarter that Malaysia to the lead through a field goal by Ashari Firhan but the Koreans fought back to restore parity at 1-1 when Uang Jihun latched on to the ball to score.
Then the Koreans took the lead when they were awarded a penalty corner which Jang Jonghyun converted with ease to give the Koreans a 2-1 lead in the second quarter.
The Malaysians then restored parity through another field goal by Sabbah Shanil who made it 2-2 at the end of 30 minutes.
With the resumption of the third period with both teams looking to take the lead the Malaysians put the pressure on the Koreans and earned their third goal through Tajuddin Tengku who broke the Korean defence down to score in the 35th minute of the game giving the Malaysian Tigers got the upper hand to take a 3-2 lead.
The fourth quarter saw the Koreans coming back with much vigor but the Malaysians held on to keep the opposition at bay, it was in the 60th minute that Malaysia’s forward Sarri Faizal dribbled past a few Koreans to score through field goal giving the Asiad silver medallist another much need and well fought victory.
