PETALING JAYA: The national hockey team suffered a heartbreaking loss to South Korea at the Asia Cup in India, quashing their hopes of making the final.
Malaysia fell 3-4 to South Korea at the Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium on Saturday (Sept 6) and saw their title dreams come to an end as they finished last in the Super Four group with three points.
Fitri Saari got the Speedy Tigers ahead nine minutes into the match but South Korea equalised after Kim Hyeon-hong converted a penalty corner in the 24th minute.
Malaysia, however, replied swiftly with two goals in quick succession through Nik Aiman Nik Rozemi and Syed Mohd Syafiq Syed Cholan in the 29th and 31st minutes.
Right before the end of the third quarter, Oh Se-yong brought the gap back down to one when he scored a field goal in the 44th minute.
The final quarter was when things took a turn for the worse for Malaysia, as a refereeing decision on the field led to Syafiq and Shello Silverius being shown the green card, leaving the Speedy Tigers down by two players in the final minutes.
Determined to keep their hopes alive, South Korea then equalised once again through a field goal by Lee Jung-jun in the 50th minute.
Right after that, Hyeon-hong converted a penalty corner to put South Korea in the lead.
Despite Malaysia scrambling to get level, their shots were denied by South Korean goalkeeper Jang Dae-han.
Malaysia's loss also saw their 2026 World Cup ticket slip past them as only the Asia Cup winners qualify.
Head coach Sarjit Singh will now have to gather his men and prepare for the third placing match on Sunday (Sept 7).
Malaysia's last chance at making it to the World Cup next year in Belgium and Holland will be during the qualifiers in March.
