Jakarta, May 26 (FN Agency) A spirited Malaysia marched into the Super 4s of Hero Asia Cup as table toppers from pool B with a huge 8-1 win over Bangladesh in their last pool stage match here at the GBK Sports Arena on Thursday. South Korea defeated Oman 5-1 to finish second in pool B to stay in contention for a World Cup spot. Malaysia continued to showcase their winning mentality, with a disciplined and well-structured performance. Relying on their biggest strength of creating penalty corners, the Malaysians converted three of the seven PCs they won and scored a goal from two penalty strokes. The experienced Razie Rahim put the Malaysian team ahead 2-0 in the first quarter with a brilliantly struck penalty stroke in the 4th minute after a deliberate infringement by Bangladeshi defenders inside the striking circle.
Rahim struck another penalty corner in the 14th minute. Though Bangladesh recovered from a poor start to bounce back in the second quarter with a penalty corner goal from Ashraful Islam in the 21st minute, they could not keep the Malaysian forwards from creating chances. Faizal Saari scored a splendid field goal in the 24th minute to put Malaysia ahead by 3-1 while his compatriot Rahim scored made it 4-1 in the 30th minute from another penalty corner. Leading by a formidable 4-1 at half-time, Malaysia pumped the ante in the third and fourth quarter, converting from the chances they created.
Faizal Saari struck an early 31st minute field goal, setting the right momentum to the second half of the play. In the 41st minute, Malaysia scored from a penalty corner by Najmi Jazlan to take a 6-1 lead. In the final quarter, Saari scored his third goal in the 46th minute and Ashran Hamsani ended the proceedings with a field goal in the 60th minute, thus finishing 8-1. “We believe we can win the Hero Asia Cup 2022 and we are playing with the mentality to win every match we play here. We are happy to go into the Super 4s as an unbeaten team and would like to continue this momentum,” stated Saari. South Korea came up with a fine performance to defeat Oman 5-1 and make their way into the Super 4s. Their stylish drag flick specialist Jonghyun Jang fetched the team’s first goal in the 11th minute which set the ball rolling for the Hero Asian Champions Trophy title holders.
Hyeongjin Kim extended the lead to 2-1 in the 19th minute. Aliyas Al-Noufali of Bangladesh brought some respite when he scored a scintillating field goal in the 22nd minute and reduce the lead to 1-2 ahead of the half-time break. But two back-to-back goals in the 33rd minute via penalty corners scored by Taeil Hwang and Jihun Yang put further pressure on Bangladesh. The 4-1 lead was increased to 5-1 when Junwoo Jeong struck a field goal in the 45th minute and South Korea defended this score in the final quarter. Hero Man of the Match award for Malaysia Vs Bangladesh was presented to Faizal Saari. Hero Man of the Match award for Korea Vs Oman was presented to Kim Hyeongjin of Korea.