Malaysia v South Korea on Thursday: Korea Can’t Afford a Second Defeat After Japan Left Them Chasing
Day two of the Asian Champions Trophy starts with the two teams who had the most fun, and the most pain, on day one. Malaysia and South Korea meet at 2:00pm PKT on Thursday 29 October at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar, and the maths is already simple. Malaysia win, and they’re nearly in the semi-finals. Korea lose, and they’re chasing from the bottom with three games left.
Malaysia’s opener was a nine-goal thriller. They beat China 5-4, and the goals came in bursts. Azrai Abu Kamal put them ahead in the 4th minute, China hit back twice in two minutes through Wang Yaqi and Ne Moda, and then Malaysia scored twice in the same 14th minute, Azrai again and Akhimullah Anuar, to lead 3-2. Chen Benhai’s penalty corner made it 3-3 at half-time. Faizal Saari’s penalty stroke in the 34th and Azimuddin Kamaruddin’s penalty corner a minute later put Malaysia 5-3 up, Chen scored his second corner in the 44th, and Malaysia held on. That’s five goals from open play, strokes and corners, from five different phases of the game. It’s also four conceded, which is the part Malaysia’s coaches will have spent the rest day thinking about. You don’t win tournaments conceding four a game, even when you score five.
Korea’s opener was tighter and, in the end, more worrying. They lost 3-2 to Japan, and the pattern of it matters. Kentaro Fukuda put Japan ahead in the 14th minute, Han Sangjun levelled from a penalty corner a minute later, and that was 1-1 at half-time. Japan scored twice from open play after the break, Ryoma Ooka in the 36th and Kazumasa Matsumoto in the 52nd, and Jeong Junseong’s late penalty corner in the 59th only made the score look closer than the game felt. Korea’s set piece works. Both their goals came from penalty corners. But they conceded three field goals, and that’s the part that will worry them against a Malaysia side that scored from everywhere on Monday.
The context sharpens it. Malaysia arrived as Asian Games silver medallists, the team that pushed India hardest in the region. Korea won this tournament in 2021 and finished fourth at the Asian Games, so they came to Jalandhar expecting to contend, not to chase. In a six-team round robin where the top four reach the semi-finals in Mohali on 4 November, an opening loss isn’t fatal. A second one, with China on Friday, Bangladesh on Sunday and India on Monday still to come, leaves almost no margin. Korea would need results against all three, and two of those are the teams most people expect to finish above them.
Malaysia, meanwhile, have the luxury of playing with a lead. Two wins from two would leave them on six points with three games left, and in control of their own path. The danger for them is complacency. China scored four against them, and Korea’s corner routine has already scored twice in this tournament. If Malaysia defend corners the way they did on Monday, Korea will get chances.
For our money, Malaysia start as favourites. They’re at full confidence, they’ve scored five in a game already, and Korea are coming off a defeat where their open-play defence was the problem. But Korea are too good to write off after one game, and a team that won this title four years ago doesn’t fold in week one. If Korea score first, this becomes a very different afternoon.
Related links:
- https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-2026-day-1-malaysia-china-japan-korea-india-bangladesh-27-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-table-day-1-india-malaysia-japan-27-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/act-thursday-full-card-malaysia-korea-bangladesh-japan-india-china-29-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/india-v-china-asian-champions-trophy-thursday-29-october-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/live/
