PETALING JAYA: The national junior hockey team surrendered a two-goal lead to Pakistan to finish fourth at the Junior Asia Cup in Inner Mongolia, China, on Sunday (Sept 13).
It was heartbreak for the Young Tigers, who looked on course for bronze after Adam Johari put them ahead in the 11th minute before Shafiq Ammar Fahmi Suzaini doubled the lead just two minutes later with a penalty corner at the Moqi Training Base.
However, Pakistan hit back through Rana Abdul Sami, who scored in the 34th and 47th minutes to level the match.
Waleed Rana then converted a penalty stroke to complete Pakistan’s comeback and secure third place.
Malaysia, who lost to India in the semi-finals, finished fourth for the third consecutive edition of the Junior Asia Cup. Their last title came in 2012 in Melaka.
Meanwhile, the women’s team finished sixth after losing 2-1 to Bangladesh in their classification match.
The Malaysians lost all their group matches and missed out on qualification for the Junior World Cup, with only the top four teams at the tournament earning places.
