KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — The national hockey team began their Men’s Asia Cup 2022 campaign in style when they thrashed Oman 7-0 in a Group B match at the Gelora Bung Karno Hockey Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia today.
Defender Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim stole the show by bagging a hat-trick of penalty corner goals in the sixth, 13th and 19th minutes to inspire Malaysia, who are coached by A. Arul Selvaraj, to clinch all three points.
The Speedy Tigers then netted four field goals through midfielder Faizal Saari (23rd minute), Muhammad Shahril Saabah (34th minute), Faiz Helmi Jali (40th minute) and Mohamad Ashran Hamsani (48th minute) to wrap up a comfortable win over Oman, who are coached by former national player Lim Chiow Chuan.
Malaysia will continue their Group B challenge against South Korea tomorrow, before meeting Bangladesh on Thursday.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Arul was full of praise for his players.
“I think it worked out as planned. Actually, we wanted to finish off the game in the first half.
“Our task is to take it one game at a time and we want to win every game that we play,” he said during the post-match press conference.
Commenting on their next game against South Korea, he said their opponents have a good coaching lineup and several key players.
“We had the opportunity to watch them play. It was good for us to play Oman first as it allowed us to settle down and watch South Korea’s match, so we have (all) the information,” he added.
— Bernama
