KUALA LUMPUR: Defender Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim continued to steal the spotlight with his second hat-trick at the 2022 Men’s Hockey Asia Cup in Indonesia, helping Malaysia beat Bangladesh 8-1 in the final Group B match today.
The victory saw Malaysia, which has booked a slot into the ‘Super 4’ group of the tournament, maintain its excellent performance by collecting nine points to top Group B in the competition in Jakarta.
Playing at the Gelora Bung Karno Hockey Stadium, the 'Speedy Tigers' only needed four minutes to open the scoring through a penalty stroke by Muhammad Razie, before he doubled the lead through a penalty corner in the 14th minute.
Shocked by the goal, Bangladesh increased the tempo of the game and managed to close the gap through a penalty corner shot by Ashraful Islam in the 21st minute.
However, Malaysia restored their two-goal cushion through a field goal by experienced striker Faizal Saari three minutes later, while Muhammad Razie completed a hat-trick through a penalty corner in the 30th minute, which was also his eighth personal goal in the tournament.
Malaysia stretched their lead further when Faizal scored his brace through a penalty corner, just a minute into the second half, followed by another one from Muhammad Najmi Farizal Jazlan in the 41st minute.
Faizal then scored his own hat-trick through a field goal in the 46th minute, which made it 7-1 to Malaysia.
A. Arul Selvaraj's squad showed no mercy to Bangladesh, scoring the eighth goal in the final minute of the match through Mohamad Ashran Hamsani.
Malaysia began their Asia Cup campaign by beating Oman 7-0 on Monday, followed by a narrow 5-4 victory over South Korea, a day later.
Only the top two teams from the two groups in the tournament are eligible to play in the ‘Super 4’ competition which begins this Saturday.
If India, who are currently third in Group A after two matches, also qualify for the ‘Super 4’ group, three other teams in the group will automatically qualify for the 2023 World Cup.
India have qualified as hosts of the prestigious tournament.
Meanwhile, Arul Selvaraj was satisfied as his team was able to score four goals from seven penalty corners awarded to Malaysia in the match against Bangladesh.
“It’s a good sign when we can score penalty corner goals from three different players, we need to keep scoring and working hard in the ‘Super 4’.
“‘Super 4’ because it is a different ball game and each team that qualifies to the ‘Super 4’ will surely aim to reach the final to have a bright chance to qualify for the World Cup next year, ”he said.
He was also optimistic that the squad's clean record so far would give them the motivation and drive required in the ‘Super 4’ contest.
Meanwhile, Faizal said he believed that the ‘Speedy Tigers’ had a chance to win the Asia Cup following their excellent performance in the group stage.-Bernama