WJWC: YOUNG TIGRESS FALL TO LATE GOAL BY CHILE

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia suffered their second consecutive defeat at the 2025 Women’s Junior World Cup (WJWC) hockey tournament after losing 0-1 to hosts Chile in a Group A match in Santiago on Wednesday.

Javiera Saenz emerged as Chile’s hero when her penalty corner strike a minute before full-time secured the team’s first win of the campaign, following a 10-0 thrashing by defending champions the Netherlands on Monday.

The result meant the Young Tigress failed to reach the quarter-finals, as Lailin Abu Hassan’s side sit bottom of the group without any points, while the Netherlands remain top with six points, followed by Japan with three points and Chile, who share the same number of points, in third place.

Although they failed to overcome Chile, Lailin said his players performed well overall but were unable to convert the chances they created to break the hosts’ defence.

“The players showed high spirit to take on Chile, but our attacking plans did not work out,” he said in an audio clip shared with the media by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation.

Malaysia, who lost 1-4 to Japan in their opening match on Monday, are scheduled to conclude their Group A fixtures against the Netherlands tomorrow.

Only group winners and the two best runners-up advance to the quarter-finals, while the remaining runners-up and the four best third-placed teams will compete in classification matches for positions nine to 16.

The other teams will battle in classification matches for positions 17 to 24.

-- BERNAMA