KUALA LUMPUR – The national junior women's hockey squad ended their Women's Junior Asia Cup 2023 campaign in the top five after mauling Kazakhstan 7-0 in the fifth and sixth place classification match in Kakamigahara, Japan today.
In the clash at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Hockey Stadium, Azmyra Mia Sofea Azhairy, who emerged as the best player of the match, opened the scoring in the 14th minute after cleverly finishing a pass from teammate Nurul Fatin Fatiah Azman.
The Young Tigress coached by Lailin Abu Hassan got on to “easy street” after Dian Nursyakira Najwa Al-Wadqa Nazeri converted a penalty corner in the 18th minute followed by a field goal by Nur Shamine Azureen Mohammed Badusha in the 28th minute for the national team to lead 3-0 in the first half.
Continuing into the second half, Malaysia showed no mercy when they added a fourth goal as a result of Dian Nursyakira’s penalty corner finish in the 36th minute before Azmyra scored the fifth goal through a field goal a minute before the end of the third quarter.
Shamine and Siti Nur Irdina Mohd Nor added to the opponents’ misery after scoring field goals in the 53rd and 55th minutes respectively, thus sealing the team's stylish victory.
“Throughout this tournament, the players showed a good performance…even though most of them were playing on the highest international stage for the first time, they displayed a high determination to reach the best level of play.
“I hope the players will continue to improve themselves…the exposure and experience gained at this tournament will help them to be better in the future,” said Lailin in a statement issued by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation.
He said the team’s next plan is to continue training in phases, besides also expecting the support of all parties in facing upcoming tournaments.
For the record, the team failed to advance to the semi-finals in Kakamigahara when they finished third in Group A after recording two wins and two losses.
Lailin’s girls then thrashed Hong Kong 10-1 in the fifth to eighth place classification action on Friday before meeting Kazakhstan today. – Bernama, June 11, 2023
