Malaysia gave another dazzling performance as the Speedy Tigers shackled New Zealand 6-4 to celebrate a sensational victory in this 30th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh tonight.
The Speedy Tigers, who had lost to Pakistan 4-5, and defeated Canada 6-2, can justifiably be proud of this performance. Malaysia goes third in the table standings with six points – three behind Pakistan and Japan.
Paris Olympics-bound New Zealand, the world No 10 and highest ranked team in the SAS Cup, received an early ‘cold bath’ treatment from the defending champions in a high-audience turnout pool match.
They play high-riding Japan tomorrow (Wednesday) and the South Koreans on Friday.
National team head coach Sarjit Singh said the four early goals helped the put New Zealand under a lot of pressure in the first half.
“However, the players lost focus in the second quarter and this allowed the Kiwis to come back strong and score two goals. We will need to control the match and not put ourselves under pressure after taking the lead”
“I am happy at the way the players played this match and kept moving on the attacking mode. Goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman (named Man of the Match} also played a great game. He made two saves that changed the game,” added Sarjit.
Moving forward tomorrow’s match against Japan, he added that the team need to recuperate after playing a tough match against New Zealand in the short time before tomorrow’s match and plan their strategy.
“We have many forwards who are playing well. Faizal is in a different league and exceptional, Azrai is having his moments, while Azimuddin and Akhimullah will be better players. Give them the space and room to grow. Then, there are many others also in the cart who can score,” he said.
“Japan is a good team and they have shown their brand of hockey. We respect them and our game plan is to play a good match and enjoy. There is no pressure.”
Japanese head coach, Yoshihiro Anai, said he is expecting a tough match against the Speedy Tigers, as they have strong fan support base and the players are fast.
“Malaysia is fast and skilful. We have played many times before and now we are building this team. Today’s match against Pakistan was fast and tough. And we can expect the same energy from the Malaysians,” he said.
Ken Nagayoshi who scored Japan’s goal in the 1-1 draw against Pakistan, said he will continue to play hard for Japan in every match, including against Malaysia.
Tonight, having successfully built their attacking strategy, the Malaysians went on a goal-scoring spree and pounded four goals past the Kiwis in the first quarter, much to the joy of home fans.
Faizal Saari, Malaysia’s most sensational forward, opened the goal-scoring acts by scoring his 142nd goal in his 175th appearance for the Speedy Tigers on the international stage in the second minute via a field goal.
The host added three more goals within a space of 10 minutes. New-found goal-scoring sensation Mohamed Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal knocked in the second from a penalty corner (5th minute).
Muhamad Azimuddin Syakir Kamaruddin, a 19-year-old pre-university student at Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School in Johor, kept the flames burning with the third goal (6th) while Azrai returned to further punished the Black Sticks by netting his second and Malaysia’s fourth from a field goal.
Though the Speedy Tigers dominated the first quarter, they didn’t have things going all their own way. New Zealand bounced back as quickly as they went down to close the gap at 4-2 through Jake Smith’s field goal effort (19th) and Jonty Elmes’ penalty stroke in the 28th minute.
The Kiwis were also awarded a second penalty stroke by Pakistani umpire Yaser Khurshid in the 34th minute. Jonty’s flick, however, was saved by goalkeeper Hafizuddin.
And as the clock ticked away in the fourth quarter, Muhajir Abdul Rauf gathered all his strength and picked the ball following Azrai pass in the 52nd minute, and placed it past goalkeeper Dominic Dixon as the host shot 5-2 ahead.
The Kiwis, who then resorted to power play in the last five minutes, where Scott Cosslett, scored the third goal off a penalty corner (58th) to make it 5-3.
Their power play risk back fired when Azrai scored his third goal as the host led 6-3, before Issac Houlbrooke converted a penalty corner (58th) to close the night at 6-4 in favour of Speedy Tigers.
