Sunday, October 28, 2018

Razak Cup Div 1: KL 3 Johor 0

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur got their act together to beat a young Johor side 3-0 in Division One of the Razak Cup Sunday.
  In their curtain raiser, KL could only manage a 0-0 draw against Malacca and so coach K. Gobinathan was elated with the encouraging result.
  ""We could not settle down in our opening match against Malacca, who gave us some very strong resistence. And even against Johor, we could not open up the match early and had to wait for after half-time to crack them," said Gobinathan who coached the Bangladesh team at the recent Asian Games in Jakarta.
  Aminudin Zain gave KL a break with a 32nd minute goal, while Wan Haziq Hisyamudin (54th) and Syamim Yusof (56th) made sure full points were theirs.
  "After a day's break we play defending champions Perak and we need to keep today's fire burning to collect full points. Perak are the early favourites even though they were held 1-1 by Terengganu Saturday they came back stronger to beat Malacca 5-0," said Gobinathan.
  RESULTS: Men's Division One: Johor 0 Kuala Lumpur 3, Perak 5 Malacca 0, Penang 2 Terengganu 4.
   Women's Group A: Kuala Lumpur 1 Police 1, Malacca 1 Selangor 2; Group B: Pahang 1 Armed Forces 1, Penang 3 Terengganu 2.
  MONDAY: Men's Division Two: Pahang v Kelantan (4pm, Pitch I), Singapore v Selangor (4pm, Pitch II), Police v Armed Forces (6pm, Pitch I).
  Women's Group A: Selangor v Singapore (7.30am, Pitch II), Police v Malacca (7.30am, Pitch I); Group B: Armed Forces v Terengganu (9.30am, Pitch I), Penang v Pahang (9.30am, Pictch II).

Malaysia shot down in Muscat shoot-out

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia clawed back from the jaws of death to force a draw, but a disappointing shoot-out saw them lost 3-1 to Pakistan in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat, Oman.
  In the other semi-finals, India edged a fighting Japan 3-2.
  Malaysia will now play for bronze with the Asian Games champions, while India and Pakistan battle for gold.
  Losing 1-4 at one point, a super third quarter saw Malaysia fight back and end regulation time at 4-4, but in the shoot-out only Nik Aiman Rozemi was able to score, while Firhan Ashari, Faizal Shaari and Shahril Saabah faltered.
  In regulation time Faizal Shaari (second, 56th), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (37th) and Nik Aiman Rozemi (44th) delivered.
  Malaysian coach Roelant Oltmans said: "Indeed the boys had a great comeback and to be honest the score at half time (losing 1-4) was not flattering as we conceded some unecessary goals and missed a couple of chances ourselves."
  The Dutch national them encouraged his charges: "I told them (at the half-time break) the game was not over and that we would get our chances again.
  "In regulation time we could have finished the match but unfortunately we lost on shoot-out. Nevertheless I'm proud of the performance but disappointed with the final outcome."
  The coach was barely appointed when he had to take his charges to Oman for the ACT.
  "Of course we didn’t prepare much. But we need to do better than scoring just one goal (in shoot out) while our goalkeeper Hairi (Rahman) saved two, which is good."
  And on Oltmans take on the bronze battle: "Japan, who lost just 3-2 to India will be another interesting encounter again. We beat them 3-0 (in the pool) and we will fight for the bronze medal for sure."  

ACT semifinals: Malaysia collapse in shoot-out

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia went down 3-1 in a shoot-out to Pakistan in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat, Oman on Saturday.
  Malaysia clawed back from being down 4-1, to equalise at 4-4 and drag the match into shoot-out but failed to crack Pakistan and will now play for the bronze medal
  The defeat came at the back of a 1-0 loss to Pakistan in the pool match, and this spells trouble for coach Roelant Oltmans World Cup campaign.
  Malaysia are in Group D with Pakistan, Germany and Netherlands in the Bhubaneswar, India, World Cup on Nov 28-Dec 16.
  And they need to brush up their tactics, if they hope to beat Pakistan in the World Cup and advance to the next stage, as the fourth placed team in each group will go home early.
  Faizal Shaari gave Malaysia a second minute lead, but it was all Pakistan after that.
  Goals from Muhammad Irfan (sixth), Aleem Bilal (12th), Abu Bakar Mahmood (15th) and Aleem Bilal (20th) -- made it 4-1.
  Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (37th) and Nik Aiman Rozemi (44th) narrowed the gap, and Faizal's 56th minute goal took the match to shoot-out, but Malaysia failed at the final hurdle.