Juniors lose 2-1 to Australia

MALAYSIA’S hopes of playing in the final of the Australian Olympic Youth Festival mathematically went up in smoke yesterday, when they lost 2-1 to Australia at the Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre.
India qualified for the final when they hammered Great Britain 6-1. India, who had beaten Australia 2-1 on Wednesday, have an unassailable six point lead, with a match against Malaysia tomorrow.
Australia wrap-up their fixtures against Great Britain, and are almost assured of the other final spot.
Malaysia will now have to beat India, and hope Australia lose to Great Britain to squeeze into the final.
Nor Hafiq Ghaffar handed Malaysia the lead in the first half, and Malaysia were looking good for an upset, but two soft goals off goal-mouth melees in the second half, saw the juniors fall on their face again.
“Now we have a mathematical chance if we beat India, which is not impossible. We were the better team against Australia and also Great Britain, but lost out because of some silly mistakes in defense,” said Juniors coach K. Rajan.
Rajan said this tournament has shown some flaws in the team, which he will work to rectify before the Junior World Cup in the middle of the year.
“The players have shown improvement in every match, but they lose concentration in the last 15 minutes. This must be rectified before the World Cup.”
RESULTS -- India 6 Great Britain 1; Malaysia 1 Australia 2.
FIXTURES: Tomorrow -- India v Malaysia, Great Britain v Australia.


STANDINGS

P W D L F A Pts
INDIA 2 2 0 0 8 2 6
AUSTRALIA 2 1 0 1 3 3 3
MALAYSIA 2 0 1 1 5 6 1
BRITAIN 2 0 1 1 5 10 1