MALAYSIA were doomed to finish last in the Azlan Shah Cup even before they played Pakistan, but still gave the Asian Games gold medallists a huge scare before losing 3-2 in the Azlan Shah Cup yesterday.
It was the second consecutive time Malaysia went down to Pakistan, with the first being a 2-0 defeat in the Asian Games final.
South Korea beat Great Britain 3-1 in the 4pm match, and it made Malaysia's match academic, while Pakistan needed a win to play Australia in the final today.
However, Malaysia are solely to be blamed for the defeat, as Kelvinder Singh and the other forwards missed a handful of sitters, before Pakistan took the lead off a Sohail Abbad penalty corner in the eighth minute.
For the record, Sohail also scored against Malaysia in the Asian Games.
Muhammad Waqas made it 2-0 with a field goal in the 21st minute, before Hafifihafiz Hanafi pulled one back for Malaysia in the dying seconds of the first half.
Shakeel Abbasi doused the comaback fire with a 51st minute goal, and but by the time Radzi Rahim finally scored off a penalty corner in the 58th minute, it was too late to chase for a draw and Malaysia lost another match after playing in patches.
"We had our chances to score, but did not connect. And after Pakistan scored, we had to keep chasing and came close to pulling off a draw," said Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai.
Pakistan coach Khawaja Junaid was pleased with his side, as they had beaten all the Asian teams in the tournament.
"After losing to Great Britain and Australia, I am happy to note that we kept our Asian Games gold medal win on a high pedestral, as we beat the other Asian teams in the tournament," said Khawaja.
Korea, after losing to Malaysia 3-1 the previous day, gave Olympic hosts Great Britain a run for their money when in the 10th minute Jang Sung Hoon guided the ball into goal with ease.
And Great Britain made their second penalty corner in the 20th minute count, as Mathew Daly’s shot was too powerful for Korean keeper LeeMyung Ho, who despite getting a foot to it failed to prevent the equaliser.
However, Jang gave Korea the lead again off a field goal in the 23rd minute, and You Hyo Sik tucked away a rebound to make sure the three points.
