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WORLD LEAGUE ROUND TWO
SINGAPORE -- JAN 17-25
FINAL STANDINGS
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
Malaysia 3 3 0 0 28 2 9
Oman 3 2 0 1 5 10 6
Ukraine 3 1 0 2 4 8 3
Singapore 3 0 0 3 4 21 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
Poland 3 3 0 0 14 2 9
Japan 3 2 0 1 13 4 6
B'ladesh 3 1 0 2 7 11 3
Mexico 3 0 0 3 1 18 0
RESULTS: Group A: Malaysia 5 Ukraine 1, Oman 3 Singapore
2; Group B: Japan 5 Bangladesh 1, Poland 6 Mexico 0.
Jan 18: Group B: Bangladesh 5 Mexico 1, Poland 3 Japan 2.
Jan 19: Group A: Ukraine 2 Singapore 1, Oman 0 Malaysia
7.
Jan 20: Group A: Ukraine 1 Oman 2, Malaysia 16 Singapore
1; Group B: Japan 6 Mexico 0, Bangladesh 0 Poland 5.
Jan 21: REST DAY
Jan 22: Quarter-finals: Malaysia v Mexico (9am); Japan v Ukraine (3pm); Oman v Bangladesh (5pm); Poland v Singapore (8pm).
Jan 23: Fifth-Eighth
Jan 24: Semi-finals
Jan 25: Final and placing matches.
MALAYSIA justified their top billing by hammering Singapore 16-1 to top Group A in the World League Round Two at the Sengkang Stadium in Singapore yesterday.
Faizal Saari was the toast of the day as he scored six goals to completely blank out the hosts, for the biggest win record against Singapore.
And now, coach Tai Beng Hai's men will play Mexico in the quarter-finals, which should be another walk in the park. Mexico finished last in Group B when they lost all three matches and could only score one goal while they let in 18.
Poland topped Group B and will play Singapore in the quarters, while Japan will meet Ukraine and Oman play Bangladesh in the other quarter-finals.
Team manager Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad said as the top seeds, ranked 13th in the world, the players did well to top the group.
"This is what we expected form the players and they did not disappoint and kept true to their top billing in the tournament.
"We only conceded two goals ( one more against Ukraine) and had good winning scorelines in all three matches, now we will have to do much better in the knock-out stages and claim the ticket to the World League .Semi-finals by playing in the final," said Nur Azmi.
On Malaysia's match against Mexico: "It should be another win for Malaysia, and I believe we are highly likely to play Japan in the semi-finals and that could be the only difficult match but again, we should win it," said Nur Azmi.
Yesterday, Malaysia went for early goals and won two early penalty corners but Razie Rahim flicked wide to the relief of the home fans.
However, in the fifth minute a penalty stroke was won and Faizal Saari calmly slotted in the lead, which opened the floodgates.
Faizal went on to score five more in the 19th, 25th, 31st, 32nd, 51st; the other goals were scored by Firhan Ashaari (13th, 25th), Razie Rahim (24th,2nd ), Haziq Shamsul (37th, 53rd), Marhan Jalil (42nd), Izwan Firdaus (44th) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (58th, 59th).
The Singapore consolation was scored by Ian Vanderput in the 33rd minute.
Malaysia have the best chance to win gold in Singapore, and advance to the World League Semi-finals on a confident note.
The WL Semi-finals at either Belgium or Argentina offer tickets to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, a platform where Malaysia last played in Sydney 2000.
For the record, Malaysia finished fifth in the last World League semi-finals and qualified for the 2014 World Cup at the Netherlands
WORLD LEAGUE ROUND TWO
SINGAPORE -- JAN 17-25
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
Malaysia 2 2 0 0 12 1 6
Ukraine 2 1 0 1 3 6 3
Oman 2 1 0 1 3 9 3
Singapore 2 0 0 2 3 5 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
Poland 2 2 0 0 9 2 6
Japan 2 1 0 1 7 4 3
B'ladesh 2 1 0 1 7 6 3
Mexico 2 0 0 2 1 12 0
RESULTS: Group A: Malaysia 5 Ukraine 1, Oman 3 Singapore
2; Group B: Japan 5 Bangladesh 1, Poland 6 Mexico 0.
Jan 18: Group B: Bangladesh 5 Mexico 1, Poland 3 Japan 2.
Jan 19: Group A: Ukraine 2 Singapore 1, Oman 0 Malaysia
7.
Jan 20: Group A: Ukraine v Oman (5.30pm), Malaysia v Singapore
(8pm); Group B: Japan v Mexico (9am), Bangladesh v Poland (3pm).
Jan 21: REST DAY
Jan 22: Quarter-finals
Jan 23: Fifth-Eighth
Jan 24: Semi-finals
Jan 25: Final and placing matches.
MALAYSIA played to their rankings and beat Oman 7-0 to virtually seal the top spot in Group A of the World League Second Round at the Sengkang Stadium yesterday.
Their next opponents are Singapore today, but after the hosts were beaten 2-1 by Ukraine, Malaysia look set to seal the three points while Singapore will be out to reduce the goals.
For the record, Malaysia beat Ukraine 5-1.
"It was a good win but in this tournament there is no need to chase for goals, as a win is all we need to top the group and have an easier opponent in the quarter-finals. Today (yesterday) there was better understanding and structure and we have also better understanding of the pitch condition," said Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai.
On Singapore, which is their final Group A match: "Although Singapore have lost both their matches, but we cant take them lightly. We never take any team lightly, or undeestimate opponents, because that can be disastrous," said Beng Hai.
Malaysia should beat Singapore and top Group A, and their likely quarter-finals opponents are Mexico.
Although Oman parked the bus early at the Sengkang Stadium goalmouth, they could only last for seven minutes as Razie Rahim scored off the first penalty corner of the match.
However, the Oman defense was more stubborn than anticipated, and two more penalty corners as well as four shots at goal were well defended as the teams went in for the first quarter water-break.
But a minute after the break, 17th, Faizal Saari nailed the second goal and the game was almost sealed by Beng Hai's top seeded team.
Oman, a hard-running team, were beaten again in the 22nd minute when Marhan Jalil scored off a penalty corner rebound.
The fourth goal was made to look like a training drill, when Marhan tapped home from close range for his brace in the 27th minute. That eased the pressure and three other goals came with ease off Faizal Saari (38th), Izwan Firdaus (44th) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (46th).
WORLD LEAGUE ROUND TWO
SINGAPORE -- JAN 17-25
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
Malaysia 1 1 0 0 5 1 3
Oman 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
Singapore 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
Ukraine 1 0 0 1 1 5 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
Poland 2 2 0 0 9 2 6
Japan 2 1 0 1 7 4 3
B'ladesh 2 1 0 1 6 6 3
Mexico 2 0 0 2 1 11 0
RESULTS: Group A: Malaysia 5 Ukraine 1, Oman 3 Singapore
2; Group B: Japan 5 Bangladesh 1, Poland 6 Mexico 0.
Jan 18: Group B: Bangladesh 5 Mexico 1, Poland 3 Japan 2.
Jan 19: Group A: Ukraine v Singapore (3pm), Oman v Malaysia
(5.30pm).
Jan 20: Group A: Ukraine v Oman (5.30pm), Malaysia v Singapore
(8pm); Group B: Japan v Mexico (9am), Bangladesh v Poland (3pm).
Jan 21: REST DAY
Jan 22: Quarter-finals
Jan 23: Fifth-Eighth
Jan 24: Semi-finals
Jan 25: Final and placing matches.
