PHNOM PENH – Midfielder Muhammad Izham Azhar scored a brace to inspire the national men’s team to a 5-0 thumping of Singapore in their indoor hockey match at the SEA Games, here, today.
Malaysia opened the scoring through forward Danial Asyraf Abdul Ghani in the eighth minute before Izham doubled their lead through a penalty corner in the 13th minute at the Dinosaur Park Hall here.
Forward Faridzul Afiq Mohd then made it 3-0 from a penalty corner in the 25th minute before midfielder Syed Mohamad Syafiq Syed Cholan scored a field goal a minute later to make it 4-0.
Izham got his second goal when he scored a 37th-minute penalty corner to seal Malaysia’s third straight win in the biennial Games, having trounced hosts Cambodia 10-1 on Sunday and the Philippines 19-0 yesterday.
Despite the comfortable victory over Singapore, national coach Mohd Hanip Che Halim admitted that his players’ performance showed a slight dip compared to their previous two outings.
“We had nine penalty corners but only converted two…,” he said.
Judging by his comments, he will probably make a slight tactical tweak for their match against Thailand tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Thailand dented the Malaysian women’s team’s record in indoor hockey when the teams drew 0-0 after the national team had scored two big wins – 8-0 against Singapore in their opening match and 12-0 against the Philippines yesterday.
The indoor hockey tournament is being played in a round-robin format, with the top two advancing to the gold medal play-off while the third- and fourth-placed teams will share the bronze medal. – Bernama, May 3, 2023
