Moqi (China), Sep 12
Malaysia edge past Japan with a 5-4 win in the ongoing Hero Asian Champions Trophy here in the Moqi Hockey Training Base on Thursday.
Goals by Syed Cholan (12’, 40’), Norsyafiq Sumantri (21’), Syarman Mat (47’) and Kamal Abu Azrai (48’) helped Malaysia win the match and climb up to No.4 in the points table.
Placed in the bottom of the pool table after losing 1-8 to India on Wednesday, Malaysia needed a win today to stay in contention for a semifinal spot.
They began the match with positive intent, pushing for early chances in the Japanese circle. Only seconds into the game, Malaysian attacker took an ambitious shot on goal but could not breach the Japanese goalie Takumi Kitagawa. A few seconds later, they were given a PC which was overturned by the video umpire after a good referral by the Japanese team.
Malaysia were finally able to beat the Japanese defence in the 12th minute when they won a PC and Syed Cholan was on target to fetch his team an important 1-0 lead.
They extended the lead to 2-0 in the 21st minute when Norsyafiq Sumantri struck a splendid field goal. Japan responded swiftly, as they made a solid comeback in the game with two back-to-back goals in the 24th and 28th minute through PC specialist Ken Nagayoshi.
Even though Japan, who recently won the Sultan of Azlan Shah Cup, made a slow start to the game, they returned from the 10-minute half-time break to score another goal in the 36th minute. This was an important field goal by Tsubasa Tanaka as it helped them take a 3-2 lead over Malaysia.