Malaysia upstage South Korea
Malaysia upstaged two-time defending champions South Korea with a 2-1 victory in their Pool B match of the Hero Asia Cup at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.
The Malaysians raced to a two-goal lead early in the second quarter, and despite conceding one late in that quarter, managed to hold on to the slim advantage and grab pole position in Pool B.
Faizal Saari scored the opening goal from open play in the 17th minute before Azri Hassan doubled the lead two minutes later. Lee Seunghoon's 27th minute strike reduced the arrears, but the Koreans, despite earning a few penalty corners towards the end, failed to find the equalising goal.
The win took Malaysia to six points from two matches while Korea have three points from the same number of matches, alongside China, who had earlier in the day eked out a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Oman.
Having come into the match on the back of a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Malaysia, the Chinese dominated the show but failed to make the most of having the lion's share of possession. The Chinese took the lead in the seventh minute through a penalty stroke converted by Takale Du.
However, Oman hit back in the next minute, thanks to a penalty stroke converted by Rashad Al Fazari. China, the sixth-ranked side in the competition, dominated the remainder of the first half and the second half, and earned a number of penalty corners.
But they failed to convert any of those as they hit the post four times. However a fierce reverse hit from Quyang Guan in the 44th minute handed them back the lead which they held on to till the end to earn three valuable points.
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