Fifth or sixth at best

26/07/2003

NEW ZEALAND 4 ENGLAND 0
Philip Burrows (9th, 40th)
Hayden Shaw (11th)
Bevan Hari(60th)
SOUTH KOREA 5 MALAYSIA 2
Lee Jung Seong (12th, 30th, 40th) S. Kuhan (24th)
Seo Jong Ho (44th) Tajol Rosli (42nd)
Hwang Seung Sun (70th)
MALAYSIA had a good chance of beating South Korea yesterday, but two
penalty strokes relegated them to fifth-sixth placing while Korea moved
into the final of the Champions Challenge in South Africa yesterday.
Malaysia will meet England tomorrow for the placing match, while South
Korea will get a shot of making the Champions Trophy awashed with Asian
teams as Pakistan and India are already in.
Malaysia looked psyched up for the encounter against South Korea and as
the minutes ticked by, it was evident that every player in yellow had only
one mission - to beat South Korea and play for the bronze medal.
But a tackle by S. Kuhan about one feet outside the Malaysian semicircle
was punished with a penalty corner by South African referee John Wright.
Lee Jung Seong, who had scored four goals in the tournament, notched his
fifth when he pounced on a rebound.
Malaysia were not broken by the goal and defender Nor Azlan Bakar
rallied his teammates with a loud battle cry: "Kita masih boleh menang
lagi!"
And this made a difference in the game as Malaysia swamped the Korean
goalmouth and earned a penalty corner in the 24th minute. After exchanging
his hockey stick at the sidelines, Kuhan flicked in the equalizer.
However, a tackle inside the semicircle by K. Gobinathan on Lee resulted
in Wright blowing for a penalty stroke.
Lee bagged his sixth goal of the tournament when he flicked low on the
right of goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin.
The second half started on a bad note for Malaysia into the match as
Roslan Jamaluddin had brought down a Korean player which resulted in
another penalty stroke as hardly five minutes after the breather.
Lee scored his hat-trick from the spot. Malaysia refused to budge as two
minutes later they earned a penalty corner, which was deflected in by
Tajol Rosli.
In the 44th minute, Seo Jong Ho made it more difficult for Malaysia by
scoring the fourth goal.
With 10 seconds left on the clock, Hwang Seong Sun made it 5-0.
In the earlier match, New Zealand relegated England to playing in the
fifth-sixth position when they thrashed the English 4-0.
(END)