An Australian favour?

WORLD No 2 Australia might just do Malaysia a favour when they play New Zealand in the final group match of the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh on Saturday.
  The equation is simple, if Australia beat or hold New Zealand to a draw (6pm start), they will also take Malaysia along with them into the final on Sunday.
  And there would be no added pressure in the 8pm Malaysia versus India match.
  However, if New Zealand beat Australia, the Kiwis will play in the final, while Malaysia need to at least pull off a draw against India to shut Australia out.
  In 22 Editions of the Azlan Shah Cup, Malaysia have only made the finals in 1985, 2007 and 2009 but played bridesmate on all three occasions.
  "It looks promising, but still, there are some areas which need urgent attention in our desire to improve the world rankings of Malaysia as well as qualify for the World Cup," said Malaysian coach Paul Revington.
  That specific area is penalty corner conversions, which used to be Malaysia's strongest point in the past.
  However, the present flickers Faizal Saari and Razie Rahim have been off form lately. out of the 11 penalty corners won against Pakistan, Faizal scored one while Razie scored the other while nine went to waste and Pakistan walked away looking good with a draw.
   "I will have to look at the recording to see what happened to the other nine penalty corners, and work to improve this area for the next assignments," said Revington.
  India, languishing at the bottom of the six-team pool, will not be easy to beat but it might not come to that, if Australia play to script.
  The fans in Perak have filled the stadium during all four of Malaysia's matches, and today is expected to be no different.


    

STANDINGS

               P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts

AUSTRALIA      4  2  2  0  14 7  8
MALAYSIA       4  2  2  0  8  6  8
N ZEALAND      4  2  0  2  9  6  6
KOREA          4  1  1  2  7  10 4
PAKISTAN       4  1  1  2  7  14 4
INDIA          4  1  0  3  7  9  3


  March 16:  Korea  v  Pakistan (4pm), Australia  v  New Zealand (6pm), Malaysia  v India (8pm).
  Note: All matches at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh.