Malaysia completed the First Round of the World League with a 100 percent win record as they whitewashed Sri Lanka 9-0 at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium on Sunday. Malaysia will be joined in the second round by Kazakhstan, who took the second berth thanks to six points from a possible nine.
It was yet another impressive performance from Malaysia, a team that had also scored double digit victories over Singapore (11-0) and Kazakhstan (11-1) earlier in the competition to confirm their place in the second round.
The game’s opening goal arrived in only the second minute of the match when Norbaini Hashim fired home before Malaysia established a 4-0 half time lead thanks to strikes from Fazilla Sylvester Silin, Juliani Mohammad Din and Siti Rahhmah Othman. Norbaini and Fazilla were both on target in the second half, with Siti Noor Amarina Ruhaini, Nor Hidayah Bokhari and Kannagi Arumugam also registering in the rout.
Kazakhstan confirmed their place in the second phase thanks to a 5-1 triumph over Singapore. Kazakhstan’s Gulnara Imangaliyeva opened the scoring in the 18th minute before Singapore grabbed an equalizer just before half time when a deflected penalty corner strike from O Ming Fen flew into the net. However, Kazakhstan emerged comfortable winners thanks to a second half double from Natalya Gataulina, with further strikes from Imangaliyeva and Vera Domashneva completing a 5-1 score-line.
More information about the tournament in Malaysia can be found by clicking here.
Final Positions
1) Malaysia - Qualified for World League Round 2
2) Kazakhstan - Qualified for World League Round 2
3) Sri Lanka
4) Singapore
Awards
Best Goalkeeper: Cookie Tan Koon Kim (Singapore)
Player of the Tournament: Fazilla Sylvester Silin (Malaysia)
Top Scorer: 6 goals: Gulnara Imangaliyeva (Kazakhstan), Nor Hidayah Bokhari (Malaysia).
For those not in the know, the Hockey World League has been developed by the FIH to present hockey at its best whilst also providing rapidly improving hockey nations with a stage to show what they are capable of. The tournament has four rounds which take place between August 2012 and February 2013, with each round acting as a qualifier for the next. This process gives every team the potential reach the tournament final. The Hockey World League also acts as the qualification competition for the FIH World Cups which take place in 2014, with 12 qualification places up for grabs. To read more information about the aims and structure of the tournament, please click here.
