MALAYSIA came to life in the fourth quarter to hold South Korea to a 1-1 draw in the last pool match of the Asian Champions Trophy in Kuantan yesterday.
The draw saw them finish second on the standings, and will play third placed Pakistan in the semi-finals on Saturday.
India, top of the table, will meet South Korea in the other semis.
Nabil Fiqri, an Inspector trainee, said his mates did not fear any team in the semi-finals.
"We slowed down the match a little to conserve energy, avoid cards and injuries leading into the semi-finals as that is the most important match at the end of the day.
"Going into the match, we knew that it was either Pakistan or South Korea for us in the last four, and we don't fear both of them and will give our best to play in our first final in the ACT," said Nabil.
For the record, Malaysia have only three bronze medals to show from the last three editions of the ACT.
South Korean coach Paul Lissek was also not worried that his charges will be playing against tournament favourites India.
"We played our best Match of the tournament to hold Malaysia, and could have even beaten them. So, looking at the positive side, if we beat India, we can also win the title for the first time," said Lissek, a former Malaysian national coach.
Even before the match started, Malaysia were hit by the stupidity of Firhan Ashaari who was suspended from the Korea match, for an off the ball incident against India on Wednesday.
Firhan had elbowed India's Akashdeep Singh and was suspended after the Technical Delegates met yesterday morning and watched the recording.
Also suspended, but for two matches, was India's Surender Kumar who hit Malaysia's Azri Hassan in another off the ball incident in the highly charged match where India edged Malaysia 2-1.
An din the match yesterday, coach Stephen van Huizen's men played like they did not have a care in the world, and allowed South Korea to dictate terms.
The first two quarters were uneventful, and Korea took the lead in the 37th minute field goal scored by Jeong Junwoo.
Razie Rahim finally found his rhythm, and scored the equalsier off a penalty corner attempt in the 56th minute.
RESULTS: Pakistan 4 China 0, Malaysia 1 South Korea 1.
TODAY: REST DAY
SATURDAY: Semi-finals -- Malaysia v Pakistan (6.30pm), India v South Korea (8.30pm).
Fifth-Sixth: China v Japan (4pm).
FINAL STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
INDIA 5 4 1 0 25 6 13
MALAYSIA 5 3 1 1 18 8 10
PAKISTAN 5 3 0 2 13 10 9
S. KOREA 5 2 2 1 11 9 8
CHINA 5 1 0 4 6 24 3
JAPAN 5 0 0 5 11 27 0
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Half Black Sticks for SOJC
THE Black Stick are no strangers to the Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC), having competed regularly since 2011.
New Zealand are also among the teams in Johor that are bound for the Junior World Cup in Lucknow, India from Dec 8-18, but have listed only part of their squad for the coming tournament at Taman Daya Stadium next month.
Although the likes of David Brydon, Dominic Newman, Hayden Phillips and Nicholas Woods are absent, Bryce Collins charges still look strong with the presence of 12 players set for the world meet.
The SOJC is New Zealand's last preparation before heading to India.
The presence of forwards Sam La mine, Jonty Keaney dan Thomas Dylan, midfielders Alex Hanham, Aiden Sarikaya, defenders Breadly Read, Hugh Hendrickson dan Johny Thorn, in addition to goalkeeper Dominic Dizon, makes New Zealand among the contenders for the SOJC this time around.
The coming edition is the perfect warm-up for New Zealand following the participation of teams such Australia, Pakistan, England dan Jepun - teams also competing in the Junior World Cup next month.
The Black Sticks have competed three times in the SOJC, the inaugural edition in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
New Zealand finished last in 2011, before improving by one place in the 2012 edition. In 2014, New Zealand came fourth, giving rise to hope of another improvement.
New Zealand open their campaign against Pakistan on Monday on October 31 followed with matches against Japan and Pakistan before a one day break.
Collins' men play England on November 4 before a showdown with Malaysia the next day. The final classification matches takes place on Nov 6.
New Zealand are also among the teams in Johor that are bound for the Junior World Cup in Lucknow, India from Dec 8-18, but have listed only part of their squad for the coming tournament at Taman Daya Stadium next month.
Although the likes of David Brydon, Dominic Newman, Hayden Phillips and Nicholas Woods are absent, Bryce Collins charges still look strong with the presence of 12 players set for the world meet.
The SOJC is New Zealand's last preparation before heading to India.
The presence of forwards Sam La mine, Jonty Keaney dan Thomas Dylan, midfielders Alex Hanham, Aiden Sarikaya, defenders Breadly Read, Hugh Hendrickson dan Johny Thorn, in addition to goalkeeper Dominic Dizon, makes New Zealand among the contenders for the SOJC this time around.
The coming edition is the perfect warm-up for New Zealand following the participation of teams such Australia, Pakistan, England dan Jepun - teams also competing in the Junior World Cup next month.
The Black Sticks have competed three times in the SOJC, the inaugural edition in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
New Zealand finished last in 2011, before improving by one place in the 2012 edition. In 2014, New Zealand came fourth, giving rise to hope of another improvement.
New Zealand open their campaign against Pakistan on Monday on October 31 followed with matches against Japan and Pakistan before a one day break.
Collins' men play England on November 4 before a showdown with Malaysia the next day. The final classification matches takes place on Nov 6.
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