Malaysia Continues Unbeaten Run in Asian Champions Trophy

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia continued its winning streak in the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament by defeating hosts Oman 3-1 in their second preliminary match at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman on Saturday. The Malaysian Tigers squad, who edged 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Japan 3-0 in a preliminary match on Thursday, took the lead via a field goal from Muhammad Firhan Ashari in the 26th minute, according to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Facebook page. Oman levelled in the 34th minute after Rashad Al Fazari converted a penalty stroke in the 34th minute. Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil restored Malaysia’s lead via a field goal in the 46th minute before national striker, Faizal Saari scored the winning goal via a field goal, two minutes later. National head coach, Roelant Oltmans was delighted with the result but noted his side could win the match with a better margin if the players stepped up their tempo in the match. “It’s always nice to score more goals, but you can also win match if you don’t concede goals. Normally, you win 95 per cent of your matches when you score three goals and that’s what we did in the game against Oman,” he added. The 64-year-old Dutchman added that he would use the two-day rest for the team to recover and also improve the match tacticals ahead of their third match against South Korea on Monday. Six Asian countries were taking part in the biennial tournament, namely, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Malaysia and also Oman. For the record, Malaysia finished in third places in four previous editions — 2011 in China, 2012 (Qatar), 2013 (Japan) and 2016 in Kuantan, Pahang. -- BERNAMA