Malaysia Tigers endured
another ‘fright night’ before overcoming Korea 3-1 in penalty shootouts to
clinch the bronze medal in the QNET 4th Asian Champions Trophy in
Kuatan.
It was Malaysia’s
fourth bronze medal in four editions of the Asian Champions Trophy since 2011
in Ordos, China.
India defeated Pakistan
3-2 in the final. The Indians savoured victory five years after edging Pakistan
4-2 in penalty shootout to win their maiden title in Ordos, China in 2011. Pakistan won the trophy in 2012 (Doha, Qatar) and 2013
(Kakamigahara, Japan).
Goalkeeper S. Kumar, at
36 and the highly capped player among the Tigers, Firhan Ashari, Faizal Saari
and Nabil Mohammad Noor turned the game around by scoring all three goals.
Kumar, on his part, stopped Jung Manjae, Kim Hyeongjin and Jeong Junwoo from
scoring. Only Kang Moonkyu got past the Malaysian custodian.
Malaysia Tigers head
coach, Stephen van Huizen, said: “We did not want to finish the tournament on a
low after playing some good hockey in the pool matches. Even the semi-finals
against Pakistan the players gave their best although our performance was below
par.”
“A lot of players
sacrificed a lot on the field including Faizal Saari who had to rush home as
his wife delivered and came back the next day from a long journey. It was an
overall team effort and I am happy we managed to win the medal,” added Van
Huizen.
There was hardly a
scent of a raucous atmosphere in this third-fourth play-off match between Korea
and Malaysia unlike the Malaysia-Pakistan semi-finals encounter on Saturday
which drew more than 5,000 fans.
The atmosphere was
quite sedate and sombre. Except for the 15 Ultras Malaya members prodding
Malaysia Tigers with patriotic songs, an estimated 2,500 were still draped and
mourning the ‘painful’ defeat by the Pakistanis 24 hours earlier.
Dark clouds loomed over
this east coast city of Kuantan before the start of the match. Perhaps this was
a hint of how today’s proceedings would go on the pitch.
And true enough, a
light drizzle enveloped throughout the match that saw the Malaysians and
Koreans battle for almost 13 minutes with near misses. Malaysia Tigers earned
the first penalty corner in the seventh minute but drag-flick specialist Razie
Rahim’s push was stopped by Yang Jihun near the top of semi-circle. But
Malaysia Tigers got the most of the counter-attacks to take the lead in the
14th minute via a Shahril Saabah penalty corner.
But Paul Lissek-coached
Korea was back in the thick of action in the second quarter, earning a penalty
corner in the 17th minute and Jung Manjae scored the equaliser.
However, the match was
one filled with climax for the entire remaining duration but it was simply a
case of near misses. Malaysia Tigers picked six penalty corners in total while
the Koreans had three. In the end it was another fright night for fans here as
the match went into penalty shootout.
This India and Pakistan
final had all the ingredients of high drama and great intensity. It was the
best match fans here had seen between the world No 6 Indians and Pakistan,
ranked 13. Not even the pool match between the two nations which India won 3-2
takes the limelight.
Apart from the coveted
trophy which was presented to the Indians by Pahang State Chief Minister, YAB.
Dato’ Sri Diraja Haji Adnan Yaakob, every player and official of the winning
Indian team also received a Swiss-made Bernard H. Mayer wrist watch presented
by title sponsors QNET.
India’s head coach,
Roelant Otmans, said: “We were making mistakes but got away with it.
Nevertheless, this was a good win for India as the last time India won a major
title was the Asian Games in 2014.
“The good thing is we
got back on track and played to our game plan. The win today shows we are
making progress.”
India kept the prolific
PR Sreejesh on the bench and introduced Akash Chikte in goal while Pakistan
rolled out Amjad Ali for Imran Butt.
The first half ended scoreless with India rattling
Pakistan with their pace. The Pakistanis made some good moves but could not
capitalize on it and India won the first penalty corner in the seventh minute
but Jasjit Singh Kular's flick went far wide.
However, the real drama unfolded in the second quarter.
Rupinder Pal Singh converted India's second penalty corner in the 17th
minute to give India 1-0 lead over Pakistan, blasting a powerful shot past
Amjad.
The Indians shot 2-0
ahead in the 23rd minute. Sardar Singh relays a long pass to
Ramandeep Singh who slides the ball in and Affan Yousuf picks it up and
deflects the ball into goal.
Pakistan roared back in
style, taking advantage of a lapse in the Indian defence through a penalty
corner in the 26th minute.
Aleem Muhammad Bilal converts and Ali Shaan equalised with a field goal
in the 38th minute - his second goal of the tournament.
India had a great
chance to go 3-2 in the very next minute. Kothajit
Khadangbam’s shot from outside the circle crashes through the defence and lands
into goal. India celebrated but umpire Peter Wright from South Africa called
for a referral. The video clip shows the ball went inside without any
deflection from the Indian forwards and thus was ruled out.
But the night belonged
to India after Ramandeep passes the ball to Nikkin Thimmaiah and the latter
fires it inside to the right of Amjad to give India a 3-2 lead for the third
time in the match and victory.
Result:
3RD – 4TH
playoff – Korea 1 Malaysia 1 (Malaysia
won 3-1 on penalty shootout)
Final – India 3 Pakistan 2
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