Kuantan (20 Oct, 2016): Malaysia and India made triumphant starts in the QNET 4th Asian Champions Trophy at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium in Kuantan today.
Faizal Saari made a great start in his return to the senior team by scoring a brace as Malaysia celebrated 4-2 victory over defending champions Pakistan and India brushed off Japan 10-2 on Day One of the tournament.
Rupinder Pal Singh scored six penalty corner goals, Ramandeep Singh firing a brace while Talwinder Singh and Yousuf Affan scored a piece as the Indians grabbed a 7-2 lead by the third quarter. The Japanese replied through Kenta Tanaka (23rd) and Hiromasa Ochiai field goals.
India takes a break tomorrow and returns on Saturday to face Korea before facing traditional rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
For Malaysia, it was their second win over Pakistan this year following a 1-0 victory in the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Trophy in April at Ipoh.
“It was great performance from the players today. The rain in the second half gave us a chance to re-group and assess our situation. I told the players the ground will be soggy and we need to make straight passes. Overall we knew penalty corners will win the match and both Pakistan and Malaysia had many penalty corners,” said Malaysian head coach Stephen van Huizen.
The match had all the promises to be a classic encounter and the orange-shirted Malaysians, donning a new-look colour introduced for the first time – moving away from the yellow-black striped jerseys worn for many years, got off on a calmer pace.
Pakistan, the two-time champions, was equally absorbing the atmosphere of their second international tournament after a lacklustre performance in the Sultan Azlan Shah Trophy.
Watched by an estimated 1,000 home fans, coach Stephen van Huizen’s Malaysia Tigers dictated terms in the 12th minute by earning the first penalty corner in the game.
Drag-flick specialist Mohammad Razie Rahim cleverly put the ball to the right of Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt but it was foiled by a defender resulting in a second penalty corner awarded. Razie packed home a powerful shot but incidentally Firhan Ashari picked it airborne and deflected into goal to give the host the much needed lead.
The Pakistanis, sorely missing the services of the ever-reliable Mohamed Irfan, who was kept back home due to visa problems, equalised six minutes later via a penalty corner through defender Aleem Muhammad Bilal much to the joy of the motley number of green-shirted fans.
A light downpour that turned heavy greeted the start of the second half but that did not stop Pakistan forwards of Ajaz Ahmad, Abdul Khan, and Muhammad Arslan Qadir from manoeuvring dangerously into the Malaysian territory and were aptly rewarded with a second penalty corner in the 34t minute and Aleem Bilal converted to put the defending champions 2-1 ahead.
Due to the heavy drizzle the match was stopped for a good 10 minutes and upon resumption, the Malaysians went on counter attack and earned a penalty stroke in the 37th minute after Nik Aiman Rosemi was brought down by Imran Butt. Terengganu forward and substitute Faizal Saari placed a low shot to Imran’s left to draw level 2-2. It was Faizal’s first international goal for the senior Malaysian team after making a return following a six-month absence.
Buoyed by this outcome, the Malaysians went onto the offensive and once again received a penalty corner which midfielder Shahril Saabah successfully placed it into the net as the Malaysians celebrated a 3-2 lead for the second time in the match.
Pakistan were back on trail and earned three more penalty corners in the fourth quarter but goalkeeper S. Kumar was in his element, especially paving away one that was close off Arslan Qadir in the 56th minute.
However, it was the Malaysian fans that celebrated, danced and sang the national anthem “Negara Ku’ when Faizal knocked home the fourth goal with just 19 second remaining from goal-mouth melee.
“India’s coach Roelant Oltman, said: It was India’s first international tournament since the Rio Olympics in August and it was a good start here. We had seven goals in the first half and added three more and overall I am happy with the performance.”
“Our next match against Korea will be just the same. Every opponent is the same and we will play our usual attacking game,” added Roelant.
Follow daily score updates and fixtures for the QNET Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2016 here.
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