Malaysia’s resurgence continues after a dismal start to the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2017 as they cruised to a 3-1 win over Japan to book their fifth spot in the six-nation competition.
Less than 24 hours ago, Malaysia surprised India with a 1-0 victory after dashing India’s hopes of reaching the final while paving the way for Great Britain to go head-to-head against group leaders, Australia to decide the champion of the prestigious tournament.
Malaysia dominated possession right from the start, but it was Japan who had first sight on goal when Kenta Tanaka saw his shot breezed through the Malaysian defense only to land at the feet of goalkeeper, Kumar Subramaniam.
In the eighth minute, the Malaysian crowd erupted with joy as Haziq Samsul converted a penalty corner after brilliant set-piece display to put the hosts 1-0 up. Two minutes later, the hosts were awarded their second penalty corner of the match only to see the opposition’s defense getting in the way of the ball.
The hosts took advantage of the chaos in the Japanese defense as Firhan Ashari’s 11th minute shot was deflected into goal by a Japanese defender.
Just before the first quarter ended, the Japanese team were awarded two quick succession of penalty corners, however, they failed to produce any positive outcome as the first quarter ended with Malaysia leading by 2-0.
The national team coached by Stephen Van Huizen, squandered two opportunities to put the result beyond doubt after failing to convert both their penalty corners within minutes.
Kaito Tanaka’s field goal in the 28th minute meant that Malaysia went into the half-time break with only a slim 2-1 lead.
Japan’s goalkeeper, Suguru Shimmoto denied Van Huizen’s men twice in the second half of the match from their fifth and sixth penalty corners respectively.
However, there was little that Shimmoto could do to prevent Faizal Saari from scoring through a penalty corner in the 34th minute. Few seconds after play resumed, the opposition saw S. Kumar parrying away their third and fourth penalty corner successively to keep the score tied at 3-1.
The match was then halted for about 70 minutes just before the end of the third quarter due to a heavy downpour at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium.
As soon as the match resumed, the Japanese pressured the Malaysian defense in search of a goal to reduce the deficit. They were unlucky yet again, as their fifth penalty corner of the match failed to threaten the hosts’ goalpost.
It was all over for the Japanese as soon as the Umpire blew the final whistle as they bow out with a 3-1 defeat.
In the day’s later matches, India will take on New Zealand in the 3rd / 4th playoff match followed by the title decider between Great Britain and world ranked No.2, Australia, at 8.35 p.m.
