IPOH: Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored a hattrick but it still wasn’t an ideal start for the national hockey team at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup as they lost 4-5 to Pakistan in their opening round fixture today (May 4).
Pakistan were the first to open the score sheet when they converted a penalty corner attempt via Sufyan Khan.
The Speedy Tigers were quick to reply as Azrai evened things between the teams through a field goal in the 13th minute.
Debutant Azimuddin Kamaruddin had a chance to give his side the lead in the second quarter, but the 19-year-old’s attempt was cleared off the line by Pakistan’s defence.
Malaysia got another penalty corner attempt in the 27th minute and after a video review for Azrai’s shot into goal, the Speedy Tigers took the lead heading into half time.
The 25-year-old Azrai then made it a hattrick after he scored through a penalty corner, giving his side a two-goal cushion before the final quarter.
Pakistan’s Sufyan then managed to bring his team closer to Malaysia by scoring in the 50th minute via a penalty corner.
The atmosphere at the Azlan Shah Stadium fell quiet in the 53rd minute as Zikriya Hayat gave Pakistan a lifeline by making it 3-3 between the two teams.
It seemed like Malaysia had let their win slip away, but Shellow Silverius came to the Speedy Tigers’ rescue and made it four for the hosts in the 58th minute.
But Pakistan were quick to respond as they scored in the next minute through Sufyan, who earned his hattrick for the night.
Abu Bakar Mahmood then broke Malaysian hockey fans hearts as he scored the final goal through penalty stroke with just 18 seconds left on the clock.
Malaysia’s head coach Sarjit Singh said the team’s error was playing to the crowd in the final minutes, when instead they should have slowed down the game’s pace.
"We need to control the match, there was no hurry because time was on our side," he said.
"We played to the crowd as they were cheering the team, we should have held the ball and played slower.
"But to be fair to the team, they played well and showed real commitment. The results could have gone either way."
Malaysia will now regroup and prepare for their second match against Canada tomorrow.
