HANGZHOU: A day after the national men’s hockey squad thumped Thailand 9-0, it was the turn of the women’s team to bare their fangs when they buried Hong Kong 8-0 in the opening action of Group A of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium here Monday.
The squad coached by Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim, nicknamed the Malaysian Tigress, however, had to wait until the 10th minute to open scoring through a penalty corner skirmish by Fatin Shafika Mahd Sukri. Team captain Nuraini Abdul Rashid doubled the lead after calmly converting a penalty shot in the 20th minute before Hanis Nadiah Onn’s penalty corner goal a minute later gave Malaysia a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Malaysia continued to pressure Hong Kong after adding two goals in the third quarter through Siti Zulaikha Husain in the 38th minute and Fatin Shafika’s penalty conversion goal in the 40th minute.
Entering the last quarter, the national team ended the match in style when they added three more goals through Nur Insyirah Effarizal in the 56th minute, followed by Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar and Wan Norfaiezah Md Saiuti around the 60th minute.
SPONSORED CONTENT Daily Express members: Enjoy 1 for 1 signature cocktails and more at Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu: DAILY EXPRESS is partnering with Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu to offer an exclusive deal for our members. Read more Speaking to reporters post-match, Nuraini said Monday’s success was something the team desperately needed before taking on a bigger challenge in the next match against last edition’s silver medallists, India. “In today’s combination with the involvement of young players, our game can be said to be ‘okay’ but it could actually have been better.
“Maybe (the team) was a bit of nervous as 80 per cent of the players were playing in the Asian Games for the first time. We seniors gave them the opportunity to gain confidence today. I hope for the next match, we will be better,” she said.
Meanwhile, national coach Nasihin found many technical mistakes made by his chargers. “Today, there were a lot of technical mistakes where passing, stopping and receiving were wrong, so they need to be corrected before meeting India... in terms of marking it also seems quite normal, when facing India we have to be more disciplined from all angles,” he said.
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