Malaysia fail to beat hosts China and miss semis spot

THE Gongshu Canal Park Stadium felt like a cauldron with the legion of Chinese fans rallying their national team in their final Pool B hockey match of the Asian Games.

And Malaysian coach A. Arulselvaraj was left hot under the collar as his charges could not overpower the hosts.

China held Malaysia to a 4-4 draw yesterday to confirm their spot in the semi-final.

“The will to win was not there. Every time they entered our D, they got something. Our one-versus-one defending wasn’t great,” said Arulselvaraj.

“We are better in playing hockey but they were better physically and used that well. The players felt they could not get their Asian Champions Trophy form in the Asian Games.”

South Korea had earlier booked their place from the group by thrashing Oman 16-2 to finish with 12 points.

China now top the group with 13 points.

Malaysia, who had come to Hangzhou with dreams of taking the gold medal and qualifying for the Olympics, had to settle for third place with 10 points.

“We have only ourselves to blame for the defeat against South Korea and also the draw against China.

“After this, we have to sit as a group and assess the situation. We have to see where we are headed.”

Malaysia will now take on Pakistan in the fifth-to-sixth classification match on Friday.

The Chinese side started with real gusto and showed their love for penalty corners by scoring two through Gao Jisheng in the 13th minute and Chen Qijun in the 20th minute.

In between those goals, Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored for Malaysia by finishing off a set-piece off a penalty corner in the 18th minute.

Jolted by China’s lead, Malaysia pushed for goal and got it through livewire midfielder Ashran Hamsani, a real fox in the box who scored a field goal in the 25th minute.

Malaysia went ahead when Najmi Farizal Jazlan finished off a penalty corner in the 35th minute, but China quickly got an equaliser a minute later through Pan Dongquan.

They again regained the lead when Amirul Hamizan Azahar scored Malaysia’s fourth in the 40th minute via a penalty corner.

But the crowd egged the Chinese on and they struck with a high-speed attack to equalise in the 43rd minute through a Zhu Weijiang field goal in the 43rd minute.

Malaysia attacked in waves but the Chinese team held on to the 4-4 scoreline.

Malaysia will now head home thinking what could have been. They now have to play in the qualifiers to get to the Olympics next year.

China will next face Japan in the semi-finals while South Korea will take on India.