Nations Cup: Speedy Tigers beat Canada 4-2
Malaysia's men's hockey team beat Canada 4-2 in the group match of the Nations Cup Championship at the National Stadium in Gniezno, Poland, on Wednesday. - Facebook photo/Malaysian Hockey Confederation
Malaysia's men's hockey team beat Canada 4-2 in the group match of the Nations Cup Championship at the National Stadium in Gniezno, Poland, on Wednesday. - Facebook photo/Malaysian Hockey Confederation
KUALA LUMPUR: The Speedy Tigers squad completed the group match of the Nations Cup Championship by defeating Canada 4-2 at the Gniezno National Stadium, Poland, on Wednesday.
It was the first win for the Sarjit Singh-led squad in the competition after a 4-4 draw in the opening match against Pakistan and a 1-3 loss to France in the previous match.
The drawn result saw Malaysia remain in third position sharing four points with Pakistan in second position only separated by a large goal difference.
However, France, who lead Group B with six points, will face Pakistan (four points) in the group's complementary action early Thursday morning.
According to the format, the top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals.
The national men's hockey squad will now have to hope for luck so that France beats Pakistan with a big score to continue progressing to the semi-finals.
In yesterday's group match, Malaysia did not wait long to score their respective goals through a field goal by Fitri Saari in the second minute and Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal four minutes later.
Malaysia added to Canada's suffering when they continued to tear the opponent's goal through a penalty corner in the 22nd minute by Syed Syafiq Mohd Cholan.
Canada broke the deadlock in the 41st minute thanks to Dhillon Rhopkanwar's goal but Muhajir Abdul Rauf doubled the score for the country a minute later.
Canada managed to add a goal in the 51st minute through Mansarovar Sidhu and thus had to agree to end the group competition at the bottom of the ladder without collecting any points.
The tournament featured two groups with five in Group A (New Zealand, Poland, Austria, South Africa and South Korea) and four in Group B.
The third and fourth place teams from each group will play in classification matches to determine the fifth to eighth places while the semi-finals will take place this Saturday and the final the following day.
The champion of this tournament has the opportunity to play in the Professional League of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
