jugjet@nst.com.my
IPOH: Malaysia fought bravely, but did not use their brains and South Korea shut the Azlan Shah Cup final door on them with a 2-1 win.
South Korea and India will play in the final on Saturday, while Malaysia will have to battle with Canada for a third-fourth placing ticket.
Eleven penalty corners were won, but only one scored, showed how jittery were coach Roelant Oltman's men.
Malaysia were too eager to win the match in the early stages, and paid dearly for it.
They missed many chances, and even a goal scored, as jittery fingers saw them falter in front of the goalmouth.
Korea kept their cool even though the stadium was packed with their rival's fans, including Ultras Malaya who never stopped singing and beating their drums.
However, it was Korea who danced to the drum-beat as Lee Nam Young scored an opportunist goal in the 31st minute and Jang Jong Hyun made it 2-0 off a penalty corner attempt in the 35th.
Malaysia kept up the fight, never giving up, but a goal scored by Firhan Ashaari was disallowed as the umpire and video referal said it was a back-stick attempt.
However, a fightback was inspired by Razie Rahim when he scored off Malaysia's eighth penalty corner in the 48th minute.
And in the 57th minute, there was dramatic moments when Malaysia scored another goal, but the umpire turned it into a penalty corner.
But still, the Koreans held on tightly to the lead.
And in the end,
Malaysia fought bravely, but did not use their brain but only brawn.
"If the umpires had kept their whistle in the pocket a little longer we would have won the match. The players showed a world class performance today and even though they lost, I am still very proud with their display," said Oltmans.
And the Dutch hotly disputed when asked if his charges were jittery.
"Did you watch the game? Did you see the correct match? They were world class," said Oltmans.
When pushed that they played well but were jittery at crucial moments, Oltmans hit the table and said "'No more, next question."
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
INDIA 4 3 1 0 14 6 10
S KOREA 4 3 1 0 12 7 10
MALAYSIA 4 2 0 2 12 10 6
CANADA 4 2 0 2 12 14 6
JAPAN 4 1 0 3 7 8 3
POLAND 4 0 0 4 3 15 0
RESULTS: Poland 0 Japan 3, Canada 3 India 7, Malaysia 1 South Korea 2.
THURSDAY: REST DAY.
FRIDAY: India v Poland (4pm), South Korea v Japan (6pm), Malaysia v Canada (8.35pm).
