CHENNAI: Malaysia came up with a spirited performance to edge past defending champion South Korea 1-0 during its round-robin match of the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy Hockey here on Wednesday.
Abu Kamal Azrai scored the winner in a contest that was academic in nature with both countries having already sealed semi-final berth.
The first quarter was a slow start from both sides, while Malaysia won the tie’s opening penalty corner, which was saved by the Korean goalkeeper.
After a chance each, there was nothing to separate the two teams at the end of the first quarter in which Malaysian skipper Marhan Jalil and Amirul Azahar were warned with green-cards.
In the 22nd minute, an unmarked Abu Kamal Azrai slapped the ball home to give the Malaysians the lead.
Malaysia kept its slender lead going into half-time. After the change of ends, Malaysia continued to be the better side in terms of number of raids into the opposition’s defensive third. However, the Korean defence managed to hold out till the end of the quarter.
Earlier, Japan edged past China 2-1 in its final round robin league match. All the three goals in the match came via penalty corners. For Japan, Shota Yamada (8th minute) and Kentaro Fukuda (54th) found the net, while China’s lone goal was scored by Suozhu Ao in the 57th minute.