The Young Tigers roared louder than a lion!
Malaysia’s national juniors routed Chile 7-1 in the Men’s Junior World Cup Group A encounter at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
Coach Amin Rahim’s young guns were fully charged in this must-win opening match of the FIH’s prestigious juniors’ event as they romped to take a 5-1 lead at the end of the third quarter against the Chileans, who won bronze in the Pan American Championships.
For the record, the Malaysians defeated Chile 2-1 in the 2021 Junior World Cup pool match in Bhubaneswar, India.
Inspired by the presence of His Majesty, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah Al-Sultan Abdullah, an ardent fan of the sport, and with close to 6,000 fans,the young tigers went about executing ‘Mission Demolition’ without showing any mercy.
Shahmie Irfan, the eldest son of former national team forward Suhaimi Ibrahim, scored a brace through penalty corner conversion (46th) and penalty stroke (55th) after Osman Harris gave the young tigers a 13th-minute lead via penalty corner conversion. The other goals were through Andywalfian Jeffrynus (36th), Azmilmuizzudin Misron (39th), and Shamir Shamsul (41st).
The Chileans replied with one goal through Sebastian Wolansky in the 26th minute from a penalty corner.
The Young Tigers will face the defending champions, Argentina, today (Wednesday). The Little Lions edged Australia 1-0 in an earlier match today.
Argentina had, in an earlier match, defeated Australia by a solitary goal scored in te dying minutes of the game.
Amin Rahim, Coach Malaysia: “For me, it is better to go out and win the first match. All the players were inspired to start the first match with a bang! We played well, a fast game, and it took the Chileans by surprise. This is the kind of playing structure we have emphasised to the players.
“We had 10 penalty corners and scored five; that is almost 50 percent, and it’s a good ratio. We take on Argentina next, and we have a game plan against them. They are a highly rated team and ranked World No 1 in the FIH Junior rankings. As long as the players do their best on the field, not waste chances, anything can happen. I am looking at a good performance inspired by today’s game.”
Matias Amoroso, Chile coach said: “Malaysia is ranked No 8 in the world. And if we are to take the rankings, my team (ranked No 20) played a good game in the first quarter but crumbled after that.
“The rhythm of Malaysia is very fast and we were a little bit fired up to try to defend. The Malaysians scored in moments (fast) and we tried to score one goal, which was good. We made some mistakes, and it cost us a big defeat. Now I want my players to get up and put on a better show against Australia.”
Meanwhile, Araijeet Singh Hundal scored a hat-trick and helped India overcome South Korea 4-2 in earlier Group C match.
The 20-year-old Araijeet, who was presented with the Man of the Match award, scored the opening goal for the 2016 JWC champions via a penalty corner conversion in the 11th minute and extended the lead to 2-0 five minutes later.
Amandeep Singh struck the third goal for India seconds before the end of the first half hooter. The Koreans, however, bounced back to reduce the deficit through Lim Doh Yun (38th min), but Araijeet made it 4-1 in the 41st minute.
The Koreans pushed forward for more goals in the third quarter and were rewarded. Kim Min Kwon scored from a penalty corner in the 45th minute, but the Indians eventually sealed a 4-2 victory.
C.R. Kumar, India coach said: “We are very happy that we earned three points in the opening game. That is the positive side. But we have to be more clinical in the circles. We gave away six penalty corners in the whole game, and we had two.
“We know pretty well the Koreans will defend because in earlier matches against them, we beat them by big margins. And I am happy Araijeet scored a hat-trick. He did not play in the Sultan of Johor Cup as we don’t want players to get injured as the JWC was only one month away then.”
Young Jang, South Korean coach said: “Despite the defeat, we are happy with the performance of the team. Our training sessions were short – only for 30 days. We had six penalty corners and managed to score two which is a good ratio for us.
“Next game, we will play against Canada. Although they lost 7-0 to Spain, we will not underestimate the Canadian team. For the JWC, we could not play in any tournaments due to insufficient time that was too short. We must play our best and win against Canada. The points are important to us.”
RESULTS – Malaysia 7 Chile 1; India 4 South Korea 2
