JUNIOR WORLD CUP HOCKEY: ROUSING START FOR YOUNG TIGERS WITH 5-1 DRUBBING OF AUSTRIA

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- The national men's hockey squad kicked off their Junior World Cup 2025 campaign in style after thrashing Austria 5-1 in the opening Group E match in Tamil Nadu, India.

In the match at Madurai International Hockey Stadium, the squad led by Nor Saiful Zaini Nasiruddin, took a 2-0 lead in the first half through Muhammad Harris Iskandar Osman's penalty corner flick in the 28th minute followed by the second goal from Muhammad Adam Asyraf Mohd Johari's field goal in the 47th minute.

Malaysia then scored the third goal through Naaveennesh Panicker's penalty corner flick in the 55th minute before Australia scored their first goal through Julian Kaiser a minute later.

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Two field goals by Muhammad Danish Aiman ​​Khairul Anuar in the final quarter of the game then added to the miseries of the Austrians before the match ended.

Commenting on the success achieved by the national youth team, Nor Saiful said his men performed brilliantly, closing all the gaps for Austria to rise up and thus collecting the first three points, besides hoping that all the players continue to remain focused ahead of the second match against the Netherlands, tomorrow.

"Tomorrow will certainly not be an easy match because I consider the Netherlands to be one of the best teams in the world right now.

"If I look at the way they play, they are skilled in every corner and then have the ability to score goals and defend quite well," he said through an audio shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) today.

-- BERNAMA