PETALING JAYA: The national hockey team missed their chance to secure an early Olympic Games ticket after settling for a silver medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday (Oct 3).
The Speedy Tigers lost 1-5 to India at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium as the Indians successfully defended their gold medal.
There was also hope that the hockey team could take Malaysia’s gold medal tally to 10 after the defeat of padel duo Christian Didier Chin and Aidan Yunus in the men's pair final.
Malaysia have won nine so far, equalling their best-ever haul achieved at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.
India took the lead in the 11th minute through Harmanpreet Singh, but Malaysia’s Shello Silverius equalised three minutes later with a field goal.
Malaysia’s challenge ended there as Jugraj Singh restored India’s lead in the 23rd minute before Hardik Singh extended the advantage in the 42nd minute.
India then struck twice late in the game, with Shilanand Lakra scoring a field goal in the 54th minute before Harmanpreet netted his second three minutes later to seal the gold medal and their tickets for the Olympic Games.
Malaysia have now finished runners-up at the Asian Games for the third time, following their silver-medal finishes at Guangzhou 2010 and Jakarta-Palembang 2018.
