Malaysia Go Top at the Asian Champions Trophy After 3-1 Win Over South Korea
Two games, two wins, top of the table. Malaysia are setting the pace at the Asian Champions Trophy, and South Korea are still waiting for their first point.
Malaysia won 3-1 in the first game of Thursday’s card at the Surjit Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar. Azimuddin Kamaruddin opened the scoring in the 10th minute from open play, and Malaysia went in ahead at the break despite Song Hae-seong levelling for Korea in the 31st minute. Akhimullah Anuar put Malaysia back in front from a penalty corner five minutes into the second half, and Faizal Saari settled it with ten minutes left. Korea pushed, but Malaysia had the game under control by then, and the 3-1 scoreline flattered nobody.
It’s a second straight defeat for Korea, who lost 3-2 to Japan on the opening day. They’ve scored in both games and they’ve lost both games, and that’s the story of their tournament so far. Too open at the back, not ruthless enough up front. Malaysia, meanwhile, have now scored eight goals in two games after Tuesday’s 5-4 thriller against China. They concede plenty too, five in two games, but right now they’re outscoring everyone and that’s enough.
The table tells it plainly. Malaysia sit top on six points from two games, goal difference plus three. India and Japan have three points each from one game, India’s goal difference a ridiculous plus 13 after the 13-0 opening win over Bangladesh. China have nothing from one game, Korea have nothing from two, and Bangladesh have nothing from one. Four teams go through to the Mohali semi-finals from six, so nobody’s out yet, but Korea’s margin for error is gone already.
Mandeep Singh still leads the scoring charts with three goals from India’s opener, but Malaysia are spreading theirs around. Kamaruddin, Anuar and Faizal have all scored in both games now, and that’s a proper spread for a side that wants to go deep in this tournament.
Friday is where it gets serious for both of today’s teams. Malaysia play Bangladesh at 2:00pm PKT, a game they’ll expect to win and win well. Korea face China at 4:15pm PKT, and that’s a straight fight between the two sides yet to win a game. The loser of that one will be staring at an early exit with two games left. Then Japan play India at 6:30pm PKT in the night game, the biggest test of the week so far for the hosts. Saturday is a rest day. The league stage runs to 2 November, with the semi-finals on 4 November and the medal matches on 5 November in Mohali.
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