PETALING JAYA: The national hockey team are on track to enter the semi-finals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after they thrashed Thailand 10-0 in their third Group B match on Thursday (Sept 24).
The Speedy Tigers have nine points after beating Thailand at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium.
Earlier, they had beaten Uzbekistan and Oman with identical 7-0 wins.
Malaysia scored four goals in the second quarter, with Faizal Saari converting a penalty corner in the 18th minute before teammates Muhajir Abdu Rauf (20th minute), Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (21st), and Aminuddin Zain (28th) scored to give themselves a comfortable lead.
Veteran Faizal then found his second goal in the second half from a field goal in the 35th minute, before Ashran Hamsani scored just seconds later.
Azrai scored his second goal in the 41st minute. The last three goals came from Shello Silverius (55th), Faiz Helmi Jali (59th), and Akhimullah Anuar Esook (60th).
World No. 14 Malaysia will face world No. 12 Pakistan on Saturday (Sept 26), with a win enough for the national team to book a spot in the semi-finals.
Their final group stage match will be against world No. 19 China on Monday (Sept 28).
