Malaysia turned on the heat in the second half to hold Pakistan to a 2-2 draw in their opening match of the 2024 Men’s Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia, China.
National senior team head coach Sarjit Singh paraded his best lineup against the Pakistanis in this crucial encounter. The Speedy Tigers were strengthened by almost 10 players who featured in the 2023 edition of the ACT that defeated the Green Shirts 3-1 in a pool match.
It was a mixed first quarter today for both sides as far as chances were concerned and the lack of being clinical.
The Pakistanis dominated by earning five penalty corners but failed to make any break through largely due to the outstanding performance from defenders especially first runner Muhammad Amirul Hamizan Azhar and goalkeeper Muhammad Zaimi Mat Deris who locked out drag-flick specialists Sufyan Khan and Shahid Hannan.
Pakistan upped the ante in the second quarter and broke the deadlock in the 24th minute through Sufyan in their sixth penalty corner attempt while Zikriya Hayat nailed the second goal in the 32nd minute after weaving his way past two defenders before packing the ball into the net.
The Malaysians then mounted a strong challenge in search of goals and were rewarded in the 37th minute through Faizal Saari’s penalty corner conversion to reduce the deficit 1-2.
The equaliser came in the 56th minute when Nik Muhammad Aiman Nik Rosemi’s brilliant play near the goalmouth following a pass from Faizal was met with a cheeky finish past goalkeeper Abdullah Ishtiaq Khan.
The Speedy Tigers will play China in the second match tomorrow (Sept 9).
In his post-match interview Sarjit said the players played a good game and showed great character by coming back from two goals down to earn this draw.
“It is not easy to come back from two goals down to earn a draw in international matches. I am happy with the way the team fought back strongly and never gave Pakistan the advantage. It was a good start despite the draw,” said Sarjit.
“We still have room to make improvements looking ahead to our next match against China tomorrow. All the teams here are strong as such we respect every team. I am also happy with the high intensity performance by the players against Pakistan.”
In other matches today, defending champion India defeated China 3-0 with goals from Sukhjeet Singh, Uttam Singh and Abhishek while Japan and South Korea launched an energetic performance in the fourth quarter to secure a hard fought 5-5 draw.