Malaysia 1 Australia 3

THE national senior hockey team lost narrowly 3-1 to Australia in the first friendly at the Perth Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Malaysia are Down Under to play a four-series friendlies against the Australian side, and two more friendlies against the Netherlands to prepare for the Dublin Olympic Qualifier on March 10-18.
Yesterday, Australia took the lead but Malaysia equalised off Izwan Firdaus and the score stood until the breather.
However, Australia scored two more goals in the second half to claim full points. The second friendly will be played today.
Malaysia had three penalty corners, while the Australians seven.
In the Olympic Qualifier, Malaysia will be playing to claim the solitary Olympics ticket with South Korea, Ireland, Russia, Chile and Ukraine.

The itinerary Down Under:
29 Jan training / Game 1 Australia (lose 1-3)
30 Jan training / Game 2 Australia
1 Feb training / Game 3 Australia
2 Feb training / Game 4 Australia
4 Feb training / Game 1 Netherlands
5 Feb training / Game 2 Netherlands