KUALA LUMPUR: The national hockey team led twice but still ended up losing 4-3 to South Korea in the fifth-eighth classification match in the Nations Cup hockey tournament in Poland tonight.
The Malaysian men’s hockey team, nicknamed the Speedy Tigers, drew first blood at the Gniezno National Stadium when Faisal Saari scored a field goal in the 16th minute.
South Korea, however, equalised through Kim Sung Yeob with a penalty corner goal in the 26th minute before Seo Inwoo put them 2-1 up with a field goal two minutes later.
Faisal then came to Malaysia’s rescue to level the score at 2-2 in the 30th minute before Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal put the Speedy Tigers 3-2 ahead with a penalty corner goal in the 35th minute.
Undaunted, coach Min Taesok’s men staged a magnificent fightback to make it 3-3 through a Lim Dohyun penalty corner goal in the 38th minute before Rim Jinkang sounded the board off another penalty corner setpiece for the winning goal in the 47th minute.
The Speedy Tigers will now face Austria in the seventh-eighth placing playoff tomorrow (June 9).
Austria had earlier lost 3-1 to Canada in a penalty shootout after both teams were tied 1-1 in regulation time of their fifth-eighth classification match.