Saturday, July 17, 2010

Eight is enough against Brunei

MALAYSIA did not shift from gear one, but still managed to beat Brunei 8
-0 to keep a clean sheet in the Asean Schools Hockey tournament at the
Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
In another match, Thailand beat Indonesia 5-1 to finish third in the
tournament, as there is no third-fourth play-off.
Today, Malaysia will play Singapore for the gold medal, and the hosts
are the overwhelming favourites with only the score yet to be determined.
"Going by my players form, they should deliver the gold medal but it
would not be as easy as in the pool match," said Malaysia coach S.
Prakash.
In the pool match, Malaysia beat Singapore 7-0 but the republic side
were jaded as they had played Thailand the same morning.
Yesterday was a rest day for Singapore, and since Malaysia were already
in the final before playing Brunei, Prakash's boys just went through the
motions, to avoid injuries and fatigue.
The Malaysian goals came from Kavin Kartik (second), Shahril Sa'abah
(13th), Anuar Wahab (15th, 16th), Dangerous Lee (31st, 68th), Hairulnizam Maizan (49th) and Mohamed Rasul (51st).
Malaysia have scored 25 and have yet to let in a single goal in this
tournament, and it does not look like Singapore are going to break the
duck today.
"We have achieved our personal target of reaching the final, but
Malaysia are the best side in this tournament and it would be difficult to
beat them," admitted Singapore coach Lim Chiow Chuan.

FINAL STANDINGS


P W D L F A Pts
MALAYSIA 4 4 0 0 25 0 12
SINGAPORE 4 3 0 1 16 10 9
THAILAND 4 2 0 2 19 10 6
INDONESIA 4 1 0 3 5 14 3
BRUNEI 4 0 0 4 0 31 0

RESULTS: Thailand 5 Indonesia 1, Brunei 0 Malaysia 8.
TODAY: Final -- Malaysia v Singapore (4pm, Tun Razak Stadium).