IPOH, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- The national men's hockey team ended the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (SASC) round-robin competition in fourth spot with four points after losing 4-3 to South Korea at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium today.
Coach Sarjit Singh's men will now take on New Zealand in the third-fourth classification match tomorrow.
Earlier, in the other two matches, India hammered Canada 14-3 to finish second with 12 points, while Belgium dispatched New Zealand 5-1 to top the standings with 13 points.
As such, Belgium and India will clash in the title showdown tomorrow.
In today's Malaysia-South Korea match, the dominant South Koreans scored two quick early field goals through Oh Seyong (fourth minute) and Park Cheoleon (fifth minute) to stun the Speedy Tigers.
South Korea extended their lead to 3-0 in the final quarter through a Yang Jihun penalty corner goal in the 47th minute, before Malaysia managed to narrow the deficit to 2-3 with two quick field goals from Faizal Saari (54th minute) and Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (55th minute).
Although Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal managed to make it 3-3 in the 58th minute, Kim Hyeonhong turned hero for South Korea when he netted the winner off a penalty corner setpiece in the final minutes of the game.
Meanwhile, coach Sarjit later attributed the defeat by South Korea to his team's poor defensive play.
He said the Speedy Tigers started brightly and aggressively, putting pressure on their rivals, including creating several chances, before they were undone by two quick early South Korean counterattacks.
"We were 3-0 behind by the third quarter, but we managed to draw level at 3-3. However, we were punished again in the dying minutes by a simple mistake in the 25-yard area, allowing South Korea to earn a penalty corner, which they duly scored from.
"Anyway, we must bounce back from this setback for tomorrow's third-fourth placing match. I hope we can get on the podium in this edition,” he told the post-match press conference.
-- BERNAMA
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