Qasidah Halimi steered the national women’s indoor hockey team to a 6-0 win over Singapore in their final group stage match earlier today to book a spot for the fight for Bronze medal.
After failing to win their previous 2 matches (1-1 against Indonesia and 3-0 defeat to Thailand), Malaysia’s slim hopes of qualifying for the finals were dashed when Indonesia cruised to a 2-0 victory over group leaders’, Thailand in the afternoon, for a spot in the final.
Nevertheless, Malaysia began the match on high spirits with a few counter-attacking moves that stunned the Singaporeans. It took them only 2 minutes to break the deadlock when Nur Aisyah Yaacob converted from a penalty corner 6 minutes before Rabiatul Mohamed doubled the lead through another penalty corner as the hosts headed into the break with a 2-0 lead.
The team led by K. Gobinathan refused to lift their foot of the pedal as Qasidah fired a shot into the bottom corner in the 23rd minute to put the result beyond reach. With a 3-0 lead, the Malaysian women continued their swift movements and increased the tempo of the match, adding a further 3 field goals through Noorain Mohd (34’, 39’) and Qasidah (40’).
“I am impressed with the performance of my players today as they executed the game plan well. In the last 2 matches, we had some problems with our penalty corners and after working on it, we were able to convert the two penalty corners received,” said coach, Gobinathan.
He added, that Malaysia will go all out to ensure a third-place finish in the tournament and not take the Singaporeans lightly because of this big win.
Having finished third in the group, the Malaysians will face-off with fourth-placed Singapore in the Bronze Medal match at 4pm tomorrow before Thailand and Indonesia go head-to-head in the final at 6pm.
In the later match at the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MiTEC), Najib Hassan’s hat trick against Singapore ensured the men’s national indoor hockey team finish the group stage with a perfect record having already qualified for the final on Saturday.
Shafiq Yaacob’s penalty corner conversion in the 8th minute opened the scoring for the Malaysians before Najib Hassan put three goals past Singapore goalkeeper, Yu Chen Aik, in the 20th, 24th and 27th minute as the match ended with a 4-0 score line.
The hosts’ led by Amin Rahim, will vie for the Gold medal as they take on the unpredictable Indonesians in the final on Saturday at 6pm.
Men’s Indoor Hockey:
RESULTS (24 August 2017):
Vietnam 5 – 1 Philippines; Thailand 2 – 4 Indonesia; Malaysia 4 – 0 Singapore.
FIXTURES (26 August 2017):
2pm – Vietnam v Philippines (5th / 6th playoff)
4pm – Singapore v Thailand (Bronze Medal Match)
6pm – Malaysia v Indonesia (Final)
Women’s Indoor Hockey:
RESULTS (24 August 2017):
Philippines 0 – 11 Indonesia; Indonesia 2 – 0 Thailand; Malaysia 6 – 0 Singapore.
FIXTURES (25 August 2017):
4pm – Malaysia v Singapore (Bronze Medal Match)
6pm – Thailand v Singapore (Final)
