Malaysia rode their luck to post a 1-0 win over South Korea and advance to the semi-finals of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on Tuesday.
IPOH: Hosts Malaysia rode their luck to post a 1-0 win over Asian Games champions Korea and advance to the semi-finals of the 16th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on Tuesday.
After committing schoolboy errors inside the striking circle throughout the game, the Malaysians struck a most astonishing goal in the 59th minute against run of play.
A right midfield scoop by Zulkifli Rejab saw the ball drop just outside the top of the circle. Two defenders and the Korean goalkeeper, who had advanced, were left stranded as the ball bounced over their heads to a lurking Ismail Abu who managed to get a touch to the ball as it sped into the net.
The victory took the unbeaten Malaysians to seven points and won them a berth in the round of four, their first since 2000 in this tournament. Also, it was Malaysia's first win over Korea in 10 years.
The Koreans face elimination, as have three points and an unfinished game with Pakistan in hand. The Pakistanis are better placed on four points. The two will play out the remaining 43 minutes of their game that was abandoned on Monday night due to power failure, on Wednesday with the scores level at 2-2.
The Koreans contributed to their own downfall as they matched their rivals in creating and missing scoring opportunities.
Perhaps, the worst of misses in the entire match was by Malaysian skipper and striker Chua Boon Huat who failed to push the ball home despite having an empty goal in the 63rd minute.
Huat had missed a couple of other opportunities early in the match and his failures seemed to have rubbed off on other players.
The Malaysian hearts fluttered in the dying seconds when the Koreans forced three back-to-back penalty corners, all of which however, were abortive. The last two awards came after the end-of-match hooter went.
The proceedings were a parody of an international match. Errors flowed from both teams as if on cue as they took turns to blunder inside the striking circle.
Stirring the melting pot were a series of questionable umpiring decisions at crucial moments. Ultimately, the decisions hurt the Koreans much more in the light of the defeat.
At the start, the Malaysians showed plenty of pluck to set the pace and dictate the exchanges, but it was not long before the Koreans got up to speed and looked more threatening.
However, with the forwards muffing chance after chance, the scores remained blank until the stunning goal in the 59th minute.
Malaysia need to thank their goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam who brought off a crucial save off the final penalty corner of the match to deny the Koreans the consolation of a draw that would have boosted their semifinal chances.
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