India punish defensive hosts

13/01/2003

MALAYSIA opted for a defensive side and in the process handed the
inaugural Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) Under-19 Four-Nation
Invitational title to India at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil
yesterday.
Unlike the pool matches where the Malaysians enjoyed every minute on the
artificial turf, yesterday, they looked scared and jittery - waiting for
the final horn to blow even before the match was 10 minutes in play.
And just minutes after the final whistle, three players from the Under-
19 squad and one from the seniors stunned the MHF.
Under-19 trio Mohamed Suffian, Mohamed Sallehin Ghani and Shahrun Nabil
and senior player Ismail Abu handed their quit letters to the parent body
in which they stated they want to concentrate on their studies and will
not be joining the seniors in training.
"It is very unbecoming of them to send the quit letters after the Under-
19 tournament because if they had sent it earlier, we would not have
included them and instead given three other players a chance to play in
the Four-Nation," said MHF secretary S. Satgunam.
The four players, who quit national training, will not be allowed to
play in the Feb 7 Junior Hockey League.
"If they want to rest from the senior squad, they might as well be given
a break from the JHL too so that they can concentrate on their studies,"
said Satgunam.
India won a first minute penalty corner which set the tone of the match.
Gurucharn Singh placed the ball at the top of the Malaysian goalmouth but
goalkeeper Khairul Nizam was quick enough to put it away.
However, India were back at full throttle despite some of their players
spending time in the sin-bin while Malaysia played up to 50 back passes in
the first half.
In the 15th minute, a blundering back-pass in the Malaysian semi-circle
led to Tushar Khandekar making a soft tap at goal, beating an outstretched
Khairul.
In the 30th minute, India were reduced to 10 men when Vivek Gupta was
flashed the yellow card but despite this, the Malaysians had their back to
the wall.
Four minutes later, skipper Prabodh Tirkey scored from a penalty corner
to give India a 2-0 lead at half-time.
The second half turned into a real surprise for the 3,000-odd fans who
saw a different Malaysian side. They played better hockey and eliminated
the back-passes.
Indian defender K.P. Roy was next to visit the sin-bin in the 40th
minute as play became robust and he stayed out for a good 15 minutes but
Malaysia still could not get their act together.
The only good attempt came from Fairus Hamsani whose penalty corner
attempt in the 43rd minute met the post.
Malaysia received three consecutive penalty corners from the 58th minute
but all came to nought.
India, however, capitalised on a blunder two minutes later when Vinay
crashed the ball to the top of the Malaysian goalmouth to make it 3-0.
In the playoff for third and fourth placings, Pakistan hammered South
Korea 7-0 with goals from Mahmood Ali (15th, 67th, 68th), Naeem Akhbar
(21st), Mohamed Imran (30th, 59th) and Tariq Aziz (35th).
Malaysia's coach Stephen van Huizen was happy with the way his charges
progressed, but rued the missed chances.
"It was from a defensive mistake when Izwan Hassan tried to break free
and India scored the first goal. We could have made a comeback, but missed
too many penalty corners and when the third goal was scored, the match was
over," said Stephen.
It was Van Huizen's final hockey assignment as his contract with MHF
expired on Dec 31.
Awards - Fair Play - Malaysia; Most Promising Player: Yasir Islam (Pak);
Best Player of Tournament: Prabodh Tirkey (Ind); Man of the Final:
Gurucharn Singh (Ind). MALAYSIA .....................0 INDIA .................... 3
Tushar Khandekar (15th)
Prabodh Tirkey (34th)
Vinay (60th)
PAKISTAN .................... 7 SOUTH KOREA .............. 0
Mahmood Ali (2nd, 67th, 68th)
Naeem Akhbar (21st)
Mohamed Imran (30th, 59th)
Tariq Aziz (35th)
(END)