PETALING JAYA: The national hockey team celebrated a podium finish at the Asian Champions Trophy after clinching the bronze medal in Punjab, India, on Thursday (Nov 5).
A brace from Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal gave the Speedy Tigers the edge to beat South Korea 5-2 at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium.
It was Malaysia’s sixth third-place finish at the tournament since its inception in 2011. Their best finish was coming in runners-up to India in 2023.
During the match, Fitri Saari gave Malaysia an early lead through a field goal just two minutes into the classification match.
But South Korea replied three minutes later with a penalty corner conversion from Park Geun-woo, before Chun Se-min put them ahead in the 13th minute.
Faizal Saari then converted a penalty corner in the 34th minute to equalise, followed by Azrai’s double field strike in the 45th and 50th minutes.
Captain Marhan Jalil then sealed the win with the fifth and final goal with two minutes left on the clock.
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