Malaysia exacted sweet revenge over Japan, winning 4-3 through goal machine Faizal Saari at the 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium, Ipoh tonight.
The Speedy Tigers were looking for pay back in front of their home crowd after being denied automatic Olympic qualification by Japan in the gold medal match of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Malaysia playing in all white change strip, were baying for blood and didn’t take long to stamp their authority over the Japanese, going in front as early as the third minute through their talisman, Faizal.
Faizal, receiving a pass inside the circle, coolly took his chance, slotting home beyond the despairing dive of goalkeeper, Yusuke Takano.
Siegfried Aikman’s side were clearly rattled and Malaysia quickly extended their lead through a field goal by promising youngster, Nik Muhammad Aiman Nik Rozemi, four minutes later.
Kazuma Murata, celebrating his 100th cap yesterday against India, then reduced the deficit with a field goal in the 17th minute.
But Roelant Oltman’s side regained their two-goal advantage when Faizal found a gap through Takano in the 25th minute for his second of the night.
Overall, Faizal has scored a total of five goals, following up from his stunning penalty corner hattrick against Poland last night, making him the top scorer of the tournament.
But Japan weren’t done yet, replying through Koji Watanabe in the 37th minute followed by a Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim penalty corner in the 53rdminute and Koji Yamasaki ending the night with Japan’s third a minute later.
With this win, Malaysia are now in pole position, sitting pretty with six points after two matches and will next meet India this Tuesday.
In the other matches, India drew 1-1 with South Korea in a match played in wet conditions due to heavy rain.
India drew first blood from a field goal by Mandeep Singh in the 28th minute when play was halted in the 52nd minute due to torrential downpour. After an hour’s delay, the match was resumed with Jang Jonghyun converting a penalty corner in the final minute of the match to level the score.
Meanwhile, Canada got their campaign back on track when they achieved their first win with a 4-0 thumping of debutants, Poland.
Results
Day 2
India 1 South Korea 1
Canada 4 Poland 0
Malaysia 4 Japan 3
Fixtures
Day 3
26th March (Tuesday)
Japan vs Canada, 4.05 pm
Poland vs Korea, 6.05 pm
Malaysia vs India 8.35 pm
