Thursday, April 26, 2018

BANGKOK: Men on track, tough for women..

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian men's team kept their winning streak intact when they beat Taiwan 10-0 and Bangladesh 7-4 in the Asian Youth Olympics Qualifier at the Queen Sirikit Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
  However, the women's five-a-side team lost 9-1 to China but bounced back with a 9-0 score against Taiwan, and need to beat Japan FRIDAY to qualify for the semi-finals.
  The Malaysian men top Group B with three wins after three matches, and play Pakistan and Singapore today for a shot at the semi-finals.
  Teams which qualify for the final in Bangkok will then proceed to play in the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aries on Oct 6-18.
  The 10 goals against Taiwan were scored by Amirul Hamizan Azhar, Akhimullah Anuar Esook, Arif Syafie Ishak and Muhibuddin Moharam (two goals each, while Syarman Mat Tee and Noor Firdaus Rosdi scored one goal each.
  Men's coach Wallace Tan expected the score against Taiwan and also the close fight from Bangladesh, who took a 1-0 lead and even equalsied at 2-2.
  "It is good that we did not break the winning momentum against Bangladesh even though they gave us a very tough fight and even took the lead.
  "This match showed that my players have the winning mentality and it will be a crucial element when we play two more matches (Pakistan and Singapore) tomorrow (FRIDAY) to qualify for the semi-finals," said Wallace.
  As for women's coach Yahya Atan, he knows it will be uphill as they need to beat Japan to play in the semi-finals.
  "Japan are a tough side , it will not be easy, but not impossible either in hockey 5s," said Yahya.
  RESULTS: Men -- Malaysia 10 Taiwan 0, Malaysia 7 Bangladsh 4.
  Women -- Malaysia 1 China 9, Malaysia 9 Taiwan 0.
  FRIDAY: Men -- Malaysia v Pakistan, Malaysia v Singapore.
  Women: Malaysia v Japan.

STANDINGS

MEN Group B

                P       W       D       L       GD      Pts

 MALAYSIA 3 3 0 0 40 9
 PAKISTAN 3 2 1 0 28 7
 BANGLADESH 3 2 0 1 34 6
 TAIWAN  2 0 1 1 3 1
 SINGAPORE 2 0 0 2 4 0
 CAMBODIA 3 0 0 3 0 0

WOMEN Group A

                P       W       D       L       GD      Pts
      CHINA 3 3 0 0 35 9
      JAPAN 3 2 0 1 37 6
      MALAYSIA 3 2 0 1 20 6
      HONG K   3 1 0 2 5 3
      TAIWAN 4 0 0 4 3 0