Malaysia sink to rock bottom

28/07/2003

Final: Spain .............7 S. Korea........3
3rd-4th: S. Africa .......2 NZ..............2
(SA win on sudden-death pen)
5th-6th: Malaysia.........2 England.........3
RANDBURG: Malaysia blew a 2-1 lead, and sank to the bottom of the
Champions Challenge pool when they allowed England too much space in the
final minutes at the Randburg Hockey Stadium in South Africa yesterday.
Meanwhile, Spain made it back into the Champions Trophy elite when they
humbled South Korea 7-3 in the final.
The last time Spain played in the Champions Trophy was in 2000 in
Rotterdam but they have been struggling since. But yesterday, they nailed
the Koreans in the first eight minutes of the match itself.
And in the third-placing match, South Africa downed New Zealand in a
sudden-death penalty shoot-out with the match tied 2-2 after extra-time.
Only seven minutes was left on the clock, with Malaysia clinging to the
lead, but it was not motivation enough for the men in yellow to bring out
their best. Instead, they waited for England to attack and let in two soft
goals to sink to a new low.
It is always difficult for any team to play in the classification
matches, especially if it is at 10am and even when the sun is still
groggy.
The Malaysian players started on a very shaky note and a mistake by Amin
Rahim in the 15th minute earned England a penalty corner.
Amin stopped an overhead flick from the English side with his stick
raised over his shoulders even though he was inside the Malaysian semi-
circle and then there was a poor clearance during the penalty corner and
Ben Hawes tucked in the lead.
The Malaysian players maintained an attacking posture though and after a
series of attempts, they won a penalty corner with skipper S. Kuhan
levelling the score in the 20th minute.
Two minutes later, Kuhan flicked in the second penalty corner and
Malaysia were back in command of the match.
Malaysia took things easy in the second half, being contented with the
one-goal lead as every player was inside the 25-yardline.
It was evident that England were going to get their equaliser sooner
than later because they never stopped attacking the Malaysian goalmouth.
For 20 agonising minutes, the Malaysian forwards never saw the ball
upfront as England pushed from every angle and thus with only seven
minutes remaining in the match, the defence went into snooze mode.
It was the easiest of equalisers for Jimmy Wallis when he tapped the
ball in between the legs of onrushing Roslan Jamaluddin.
The equaliser spurred the English on and with three minutes on the
clock, with extra-time and possibly a penalty shoot-out looming, Malaysia
buckled under pressure yet again.
This time, a long ball from the center found Danny Hall in the middle of
the Malaysian semicircle and he slotted in to seal fifth spot for the
English in the Champions Challenge.
(END)