Malaysia Beat South Korea In Close Encounter

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia beat South Korea 1-0 in a group A match of the World Hockey League (WHL) semi-finals at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, London, early Tuesday. Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim's goal brought cheers as it took Malaysia closer to the 2018 World Cup finals in India. In a match where both teams needed to win, South Korea were the early aggressors as they came close to finding the net as early as the 1st minute, only to be denied by Malaysian goalkeeper S. Kumar. Defender and penalty corner specialist Muhammad Razie scored in the 35th minute to put the Speedy Tigers in the driving seat. Stung by Malaysia's goal, the South Koreans mounted a series of raids which resulted in two penalty corners in the final minutes of the game. However, the Speedy Tigers held on to the only goal thanked to the heroics of goalkeeper Kumar. The win over South Korea put Malaysia in third place ahead of China based on goal difference. Argentina is top of Group A followed by England. Malaysia will face China in the last group A match and need to score a lot of goals to stay in the top four and advance to the quarter-finals. Malaysia lost to the world first ranking team Argentina 5-2 in the opener followed by a 7-3 lost to England. China beat South Korea 5-2 but lost to Argentine 10-0. -- BERNAMA