ASIAD Men's Hockey: Malaysia Leave Kazakhstan Reeling

From Mazani Chan Yat Sin  JAKARTA, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- It must have seemed like a “firing squad” for  Kazakhstan who were mauled 16-2 by Malaysia in the Group B opening match of  the men’s hockey competition in the Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Asian Games at the  Gelora Bung Karno Hockey Field here Monday. National penalty corner specialist  Muhammad Razie Abdul Rahim was the big hero for the Malaysian Tigers after being on target five times. The minnows found out what  Malaysia were capable of when they were 1-9 behind at half-time with the Malaysian goals coming through Faizal Saari as early as the 1st minute, Faiz Helmi Jali (6’), Muhammad Razie  (7’), Nik Aiman Rozemi Nik Muhammad (8’ and 12’) and Muhammad Shahril Saabah (19’ and 21’).   The other goals were created by Meor Azuan Hassan (22’) and Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan (30’) but  Kazakhstan pulled one back when  Aman Yelubayev converted a penalty stroke in the 14th minute. It was the same story in the second half with Malaysia piling on seven more goals while Kazakhstan just one. Muhammad Razie  displayed his sharpness  again when he converted four other penalty corners (34’, 42’, 48’ and 55’) while  the other goals came through Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil (38’) and Faizal (43’ and 52’). Ilgam Abdulabayev found the second for Kazakhstan in the 54th minute. Speaking after the match, national hockey head coach, Stephen Van Huizen was extremely pleased with the splendid performance by his charges and hoped the players will keep up the winning momentum when facing Thailand in the second preliminary match on Wednesday. “When we were leading 5-0 in the first quarter, we knew that we were the better team but the only thing that I told the players was to stay focused and not to concede mistakes and most importantly, the players are  free from any injury,” he said. Earlier, in other Group B action, Pakistan gave Thailand a 10-0  hiding while Bangladesh edged  Oman 2-1. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA