Malaysia's Speedy Tigers Roar Past Japan To Book Slot In SASC Final

IPOH (Perak, Malaysia), Nov 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s Speedy Tigers scored a convincing 4-2 victory over Japan in their final round-robin match to book their berth in the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at the Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium, here Monday night. Coach A. Arul Selvaraj’s charges were in total command of the match right from the start to keep the Japanese on the edge and deservedly took the lead in the seventh minute of the first quarter through a penalty corner strike by Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim. Just a minute into the second quarter, Malaysia were awarded another penalty corner and Muhammad Razie stepped up to make it 2-0. Jolted by the second goal, Japan who were mainly depending on counter attacks, doubled their effort to reduce the deficit through Kaito Tanaka in the 22nd minute. However, the Speedy Tigers regained their composure in the third quarter and it was not long before Nik Aiman Nik Rozemi made it 3-1 in the 30th minute but four minutes later Japan scored their second of the night through Shota Yamada to make it 3-2 in favour of Malaysia. The Speedy Tigers moved into top gear in the fourth quarter to make it 4-2 through a field goal by Nor Syafiq Sumantri in the 45th minute and Japan looked like a spent force after that. Malaysia will face South Korea who topped the group stage round-robin fixtures with 13 points while Malaysia with 10 points finished second in the table and qualified for the final. Arul Selvaraj was certainly elated by the performance of his boys and the fighting spirit shown throughout the match on Monday night. "This is the new Malaysian team that has the discipline and character. Though we were leading they never slowed down the pace but rather kept the momentum and fighting spirit intact until the final whistle,” he said. Malaysia has not won the SASC since the inception of the tournament in 1983 but have emerged as runner-up five times before. In the 2019 edition, Malaysia finished third after beating Canada 4-2 while South Korea edged India to win the title. -- BERNAMA