KUALA LUMPUR: The national men’s hockey squad created history when they qualified for the final of the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Chennai, India, yesterday.
The roaring success was achieved after the Speedy Tigers that only narrowly won against South Korea last Thursday, once again carved a victory by beating the same team 6-2 in yesterday’s semi-final match.
The victory means Malaysia will meet either defending champions India or Japan who are in the balance tonight to decide who will reach today’s final.
The match that took place at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium saw South Korea starting aggressively to snatch the lead when Ji Woo Cheon scored as early as the third minute through a field goal.
The Speedy Tigers however, managed to rise to square the game after Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored a field goal a minute later before Najmi Farizal Jazlan doubled the position through a goal in the ninth minute.
It was a semifinal fought blow-by-blow as Malaysia’s 2-1 lead did not break the spirit of the opposing team who equalised when Jang Jonghyun flicked into the net off a penalty corner in the 14th minute to make it 2-2.
Coach A. Arul Selvaraj’s men then doused South Korea’s fire with the third and fourth goals completed by prolific striker Faizal Saari and Najmi Farizal through penalty corners in the 19th and 21st minutes to barricade Malaysia in a comfortable 4-2 position.
As if that was not enough, the national squad continued to put tension with forays into the Korean circle when Shello Silverius created a twin strike sensation with two field goals in the 47th and 48th minutes to complete a stylish 6-2 demolition of South Korea.
Their grand success tonight bodes well for their chances at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China next month.
The Speedy Tigers started their 2023 ACT campaign by defeating Pakistan 3-1 last Thursday, followed by a 5-1 win over China, then losing to India 0-5, before bouncing back to record wins over Japan 3-1 and South Korea 1-0.
Malaysia’s best achievement in the ACT championship was finishing in third spot five times, namely in the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2018 editions.
Commenting on yesterday’s match, Arul said the victory proved that the national squad had the advantage, not only in terms of penalty corner goals, but also field goals.
“What satisfied me most were the field goals, because so far we are ahead with the highest field goals in this tournament.
“...It means our team were able to score field goals and convert penalty corners and that is a positive message for the team to take to China for the Asian Games later,” he said through a recorded video shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) to the media yesterday.
For the record, so far the Speedy Tigers have scored 12 field goals -- which is the highest throughout the ACT tournament since Aug 3. -Bernama
