The Young Tigress’ hopes of qualifying for the semifinals were dashed by China who registered a 4-0 victory in the Women’s Junior Asia Cup in Muscat, Oman on Thursday (Dec 12).
The Chinese were in full control of the match. They earned 10 penalty corners against one by the Malaysians.
Hao Guoting scored a brace in the fourth and 17th minutes from field goals while Lei Jiajing extended the lead to 3-0 in the 49th minute and Tan Jinzhuang sealed the fourth goal in the 54th minute via a penalty corner conversion.
However, although China won the match, the accolades were reserved for Young Tigress goalkeeper Nur Hazlinda Zainal Abidin who received the Rising Star Award.
Malaysia’s head coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “China is a strong contender in Pool A and are one of the favourites in this tournament. However, I am satisfied at the performance of our players despite the defeat as they gave a good fight in this match.”
“I want the team to continue the momentum in our next match as it is not over yet. We still have a chance to earn last ticket to the World Cup. Firstly, we must win against Hong Kong in the 5-8th classification match on Saturday,” he added.
The Young Tigress are now left to battle for the remaining fifth and only last slot to the World Cup beginning with the 5-8th classifications matches. They will go up against Hong Kong China on Saturday (Dec 14) while Thailand plays Chinese Taipei.
The winners of these two matches will progress to the deciding 5-6th playoff match on Sunday (Dec 15) that will determine which team joins China, India, Japan and South Korea in the World Cup.
China tops Pool A with 12 points and is joined in the semifinals by defending champions India, while Japan and South Korea qualified from Pool B.
All four teams have also earned direct qualifications to the 2025 Junior World Cup in Chile. The Indians, as expected, dominated on all fronts and defeated Thailand 9-0 to stay second in Pool A with nine points. Deepika scored four goals and leads the scoring charts of the tournament with 10 goals.
In Pool B matches, the South Koreans demolished Hong Kong 12-0, and Japan ran over Chinese Taipei 6-0. Japan maintained an unbeaten streak of four wins to stay on top of the pool with 12 points while Korea is second on nine points.
Chinese Taipei is third with six points, followed by Hong Kong in fifth spot (3 points) and Sri Lanka at the bottom with no points having lost all four matches.
