KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia were held to a 4-4 draw by China in their second Group B match at the FIH Men’s Series Finals hockey tournament at the National Hockey Stadium here, Sunday night.
“We made too many mistakes and so, to be honest, that’s the reason why China were able to score four goals.
“The defending structure was not that good, they (Malaysian players) were too enthusiastic and wanted to attack too much,” national head coach Roelant Oltmans told reporters after the match, adding that the team would analyse the match and try to rectify their mistakes.
He hoped that the players learned a lesson from today’s match and would play with a better structure Monday.
The Speedy Tigers opened the scoresheet in the fourth minute when Fitri Saari converted the first penalty corner given to Malaysia.
The second quarter was high-tempo, with both teams launching attacks, however, the score remained 1-0 to Malaysia.
After a breather, Muhammad Firhan Ashari netted Malaysia’s second goal but China narrowed the deficit when Lin Changliang converted a penalty corner in the 43rd minute.
The match intensified in the final quarter when Ao Weibao equalised in the 51st minute.
In a nerve-wracking situation, Malaysia once again took the lead as Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil converted a penalty corner in 53rd minute, but Chinese player Du Talake penalised the Speedy Tigers with a penalty corner goal just a minute later.
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin then took Malaysia ahead once again with his field goal in 57th minute, but just a minute before the final whistle, Dong Yang brought the Chinese side level to end the match 4-4.
“We knew that Malaysia is stronger than us and they are skillful and have much experience. The first five minutes, we struggled a little bit but came out better and better.
“However, the final scoreline is good for us. Tomorrow (Monday) is the last game, we have to win. It’s not a difficult situation as we still have a chance, because there is a cross-over match before the semifinals,” said the Chinese coach from South Korea, Kim Sang Ryul.
After Sunday night’s match, Malaysia stand in second place with four points, two shy of leaders Italy, while China sit in third with one point. (photoBERNAMA)
— NNN-BERNAMA