Malaysia v Korea 4-2 (3-1): Malaysian men surprise Korea to claim pool A lead

In the clash of the Asian representatives in pool A at the Argentina Hockey Champions Challenge 1 today, things seemed to take their expected course when Korea scored an early goal through penalty corner specialist Jang Jong Hyun.

Malaysia had different plans however, and fought back with determination. An 18th minute penalty corner from Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim set the balance back to start, and a blitz hit yielding two goals in about a minute towards the end of the first half - both at the hands of Tengku Ahmad Tajudin Abdul Jalil established a comfortable lead already.

In the second half, Chua Boon Huat piled on another against a Korean team that didn't seem able to find a way to deal with the speedy Malaysians strikers. Malaysia had a nmber of further opportunities but it was Korea that scored with about ten minutes left on the clock, once more at the hands of Jang Jong Hyun.

But it was too little too late for Korea, and the Malaysian team celebrated the final whistle that spelt out a 4-2 win for them.

Voices:

Tengku Abdul Jalil (Player Malaysia): "I think we played well most of the match, but the last 20 minutes we were struggling to maintain our performance. The result is only one side, but we are not satisfied of our performance. There are many things to improve in the group for the next match."

Paul Revington (Coach Malaysia): "I am pleased with the fact that we won 4-2. The players are maybe disappointed for the last 10 minutes of the match, but I am pleased and proud of them, for how they have performed the last 2 games and we are making improvements day by day."