STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
AUSTRALIA 4 3 1 0 12 5 10
BRITAIN 4 3 0 1 10 7 9
PAKISTAN 5 3 0 2 14 13 9
INDIA 5 2 1 2 12 10 7
KOREA 4 1 1 2 8 11 4
N ZEALAND 4 1 1 2 7 10 4
MALAYSIA 4 0 0 4 6 13 0
RESULTS -- New Zealand 3 Malaysia 2, Australia 4 Korea 2, Pakistan 3 India 1.
MAY 12 -- Australia v Great Britain (4pm), New Zealand v India (6pm), Korea v Malaysia (8pm).
MAY 14 -- Great Britain v South Korea (4pm), Pakistan v Malaysia (6pm), Australia v New Zealand (8pm).
MAY 15 -- Fifth-Sixth (4pm), Third-Fourth (6pm); Final (8.30pm).
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Australia in super form
AUSTRALIA stamped their dominance in the Azlan Shah Cup when they beat a fighting South Korea 4-2 to top the standings in Ipoh yesterday.
The match was not an easy one, as the Koreans were determined to stop the Australian run, but inexperience let down the Asian side.
Australia took the lead in the 8th minute off Timothy Deavin. And they doubled the advantage in the 12th minute when Mark Paterson scored.
Korea reduced the deficit through a goal by You Hyo Sik in the 15th minute and should have leveled the scores had not Andrew Charter in the Australian goal pulled off a spectacular save from Yoon Sung Hoon in the 27th minute.
However, Australia inserted their dominance by scoring the third goal off Glenn Turner in the 34th minute for a 3-1 ahead.
Korea were back in the match when Hyun Hye Sung who sent the ball between Charter’s pads in the 39th minute to narrow the gap, but Mark
Paterson scoring the fourth goal in the three minutes from time to seal three points.
In another match, Pakistan came back from a goal down to beat India 3-1.
Rupinder Singh gave India a big boost by scoring off a penalty in the 23rd minute, his sixth of the tournament, but India could not control the match even with the lead.
Umar Bhutta scored the equaliser in the 49th minute, while skipper Muhamamd Imran sent a powerful drag-flick crashing into the net in the 56th minute penalty corner.
Pakistan, inspired by their skipper's goal, won another penalty corner one minute after the re-start and this time, penalty corner world record holder Sohai Abbas made sure with his trademark drag-attempt.
The match was not an easy one, as the Koreans were determined to stop the Australian run, but inexperience let down the Asian side.
Australia took the lead in the 8th minute off Timothy Deavin. And they doubled the advantage in the 12th minute when Mark Paterson scored.
Korea reduced the deficit through a goal by You Hyo Sik in the 15th minute and should have leveled the scores had not Andrew Charter in the Australian goal pulled off a spectacular save from Yoon Sung Hoon in the 27th minute.
However, Australia inserted their dominance by scoring the third goal off Glenn Turner in the 34th minute for a 3-1 ahead.
Korea were back in the match when Hyun Hye Sung who sent the ball between Charter’s pads in the 39th minute to narrow the gap, but Mark
Paterson scoring the fourth goal in the three minutes from time to seal three points.
In another match, Pakistan came back from a goal down to beat India 3-1.
Rupinder Singh gave India a big boost by scoring off a penalty in the 23rd minute, his sixth of the tournament, but India could not control the match even with the lead.
Umar Bhutta scored the equaliser in the 49th minute, while skipper Muhamamd Imran sent a powerful drag-flick crashing into the net in the 56th minute penalty corner.
Pakistan, inspired by their skipper's goal, won another penalty corner one minute after the re-start and this time, penalty corner world record holder Sohai Abbas made sure with his trademark drag-attempt.
Same old story...
MALAYSIA dished out another pathetic performance, as they stuck to their 35-second syndrome plot and lost 3-2 to New Zealand in the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh yesterday.
The defeat, their fourth consecutive, have almost doomed them of finishing last in the seven-team tournament which will give them an undeserved rest on Sunday.
It was another inconsistent performance, as Malaysia only had four shots at goal, and one penalty corner to show after 70 minutes of running like headless chickens.
New Zealand took the lead in the 16th minute off a penalty corner set-piece when Nicolas Wilson deflected home from the penalty spot.
Malaysia came back in to the picture when Izzat Rahim took a cricket shot which went crashing onto the boards in the 30th minute and the score stood until half-time.
Stephen Jenness gave the Kiwis the lead again when he scored a field goal in the 57th minute but with two minutes remaining, Malaysia won their only penalty corner of the match and Faizal Shaari delivered.
And just as the match was heading for a draw the goal-scorer Izzat turned into a bad-boy when he made a deliberate clearance at the goal-line and the umpire awarded New Zealand a penalty corner.
Only 35 seconds remained when Izzat made the blunder,
and Steven Edwards punished Malaysia with a well placed
shot for full points.
"This (losing in the final seconds of the match) has been going on for almost a decade, and I don't have any answers for it.
"However, we played well against Australia, 35 minutes against India, and also for one half against Great Britain.
But if one does not play consistently at the international level, one would be surely punished.
"I'm building a team for the Olympic Qualifiers and we will work on the weaknesses identified here. So, give the boys a chance to pick themselves up," said Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai.
The last minute losing syndrome was first spotted in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and since then, Malaysia have lost many matches because of last minute lapses.
At the Azlan Shah Cup, this is the second time Malaysia lost the match in the last 35 seconds.
The first was against world No 1 Australia, as the match was 1-1 and heading for a draw but Australia won a penalty corner in the last 35 seconds of the match, and scored the winner.
The defeat, their fourth consecutive, have almost doomed them of finishing last in the seven-team tournament which will give them an undeserved rest on Sunday.
It was another inconsistent performance, as Malaysia only had four shots at goal, and one penalty corner to show after 70 minutes of running like headless chickens.
New Zealand took the lead in the 16th minute off a penalty corner set-piece when Nicolas Wilson deflected home from the penalty spot.
Malaysia came back in to the picture when Izzat Rahim took a cricket shot which went crashing onto the boards in the 30th minute and the score stood until half-time.
Stephen Jenness gave the Kiwis the lead again when he scored a field goal in the 57th minute but with two minutes remaining, Malaysia won their only penalty corner of the match and Faizal Shaari delivered.
And just as the match was heading for a draw the goal-scorer Izzat turned into a bad-boy when he made a deliberate clearance at the goal-line and the umpire awarded New Zealand a penalty corner.
Only 35 seconds remained when Izzat made the blunder,
and Steven Edwards punished Malaysia with a well placed
shot for full points.
"This (losing in the final seconds of the match) has been going on for almost a decade, and I don't have any answers for it.
"However, we played well against Australia, 35 minutes against India, and also for one half against Great Britain.
But if one does not play consistently at the international level, one would be surely punished.
"I'm building a team for the Olympic Qualifiers and we will work on the weaknesses identified here. So, give the boys a chance to pick themselves up," said Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai.
The last minute losing syndrome was first spotted in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and since then, Malaysia have lost many matches because of last minute lapses.
At the Azlan Shah Cup, this is the second time Malaysia lost the match in the last 35 seconds.
The first was against world No 1 Australia, as the match was 1-1 and heading for a draw but Australia won a penalty corner in the last 35 seconds of the match, and scored the winner.
Women face Italy in semis
THE Malaysian women's hockey team finished third in Group B of the Champions Challenge II in Viena, when they held Russia to a 2-2 draw in their last pool match.
The tournament is unique in the sense that even though there are only eight teams competing, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) decided to hold a quarter-finals after the pool matches.
Malaysia, who lost 2-1 to Belgium and 5-4 to Belarus, will play Italy today and a win would see them in the semi-finals.
Against Russia, the national side were down 1-0 by the 12th minute, but equalised off Siti Rahmah Othman in the 26th minute, and then took the lead off their skipper Nadia Abdul Rahman -- both goals were off field attempts.
However, they let in a field goal in the 66th minute to share points with Russia.
Malaysia's last eight opponents Italy finished second in Group A, and they only lost 2-1 to group champions Chile, beat Austria 4-1 and then beat Canada 2-1.
TODAY -- Q-finals: Chile v Russia, Belgium v Canada, Italy v Malaysia, Belarus v Austria.
FINAL STANDINGS
GROUP A
Pool A
P W D L F A Pts
Chile 3 2 0 1 7 3 6
Italy 3 2 0 1 7 4 6
Canada 3 2 0 1 4 3 6
Austria 3 0 0 3 3 11 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
Belarus 3 3 0 0 12 9 9
Belgium 3 2 0 1 8 4 6
Malaysia 3 0 1 2 7 9 1
Russia 3 0 1 2 5 10 1
The tournament is unique in the sense that even though there are only eight teams competing, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) decided to hold a quarter-finals after the pool matches.
Malaysia, who lost 2-1 to Belgium and 5-4 to Belarus, will play Italy today and a win would see them in the semi-finals.
Against Russia, the national side were down 1-0 by the 12th minute, but equalised off Siti Rahmah Othman in the 26th minute, and then took the lead off their skipper Nadia Abdul Rahman -- both goals were off field attempts.
However, they let in a field goal in the 66th minute to share points with Russia.
Malaysia's last eight opponents Italy finished second in Group A, and they only lost 2-1 to group champions Chile, beat Austria 4-1 and then beat Canada 2-1.
TODAY -- Q-finals: Chile v Russia, Belgium v Canada, Italy v Malaysia, Belarus v Austria.
FINAL STANDINGS
GROUP A
Pool A
P W D L F A Pts
Chile 3 2 0 1 7 3 6
Italy 3 2 0 1 7 4 6
Canada 3 2 0 1 4 3 6
Austria 3 0 0 3 3 11 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
Belarus 3 3 0 0 12 9 9
Belgium 3 2 0 1 8 4 6
Malaysia 3 0 1 2 7 9 1
Russia 3 0 1 2 5 10 1
Primed for misery
Malaysia’s Hafifihafiz Hanafi (left) tries to stop India’s Diwakar on Monday. — Picture by Ikhwan MunirAFTER three straight defeats, Malaysia have another three matches to play in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, but going by their current form, they are staring at another three defeats.
The chinks were there for all to see in the match against India on Monday, where Malaysia were given a lesson in hockey in a 5-2 drubbing despite the Indians having injected many new players into their team after their Asian Games failure.
Malaysia, on the other hand, fielded the same Asian Games side which took silver minus penalty corner flicker Amin Rahim.
"We were rattled because the regular defenders were injured and I had to rotate players. This is why their performance dropped against India," said Malaysia's coach Tai Beng Hai.
Tactically and even fitness-wise, Malaysia are not too far behind the other Asian teams.
The only difference is that Korea, India and Pakistan seem to be able to rely on their back-up players when regulars get injured or retire, and their standard of play is almost the same.
A classic example is India, who left behind their best penalty corner flicker Sandeep Singh and were willing to try out Rupinder Singh for this tournament.
The 23-year-old has scored five goals so far in the tournament, one of which was in India's 1-1 draw with Australia.
However, Malaysia look like lost lambs and have not scored a single penalty corner goal after Amin Rahim was rested due to a knee injury he picked up in the Malaysia Hockey League.
"We have limited replacements on the bench, and when Amin and Madzli (Ikmar) are sidelined, the others find it difficult to fill their shoes," added Beng Hai.
Malaysia play New Zealand today, followed by South Korea and Pakistan.
In the last meeting during the World Cup Qualifier in Invercargill, Malaysia were edged 2-1 by the Kiwis in the final and missed the boat to the New Delhi World Cup.
New Zealand have also been struggling in this tournament and only have one point to show, but it won't come as a surprise if Malaysia hand them three more points.
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