KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — The national junior women’s hockey team kicked off their 2024 Women’s Junior Asia Cup campaign in style, securing a 3-0 win over Thailand in their Group A opener at Al Amarat in Muscat, Oman yesterday.
Guided by head coach Lailin Abu Hassan, the Young Tigress wasted no time asserting their dominance with Nurshamine Azureen Mohammed Badusha opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a well-executed penalty corner.
The lead was doubled in the 31st minute when Nur Syahirah Azwan capitalised on another penalty corner opportunity.
In the second half, they continued their relentless attacks, sealing victory in the 54th minute when Nor Zulaikha Nazihah Tamjit converted yet another penalty corner.
Despite the impressive win, Lailin highlighted areas for improvement, particularly the team’s inefficiency in capitalising on penalty corner opportunities.
“I am not entirely satisfied despite the victory. We squandered too many penalty corners, which could have further boosted our lead. I expect the players to sharpen their focus for the upcoming matches. Tomorrow, we will use the rest day for training and analysing India’s gameplay.
“India are a formidable team in this tournament, so we need thorough preparation and a detailed strategy to face them,” she said in a video statement shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation.
The Young Tigress next face tournament giants India tomorrow, followed by matches against Bangladesh on Wednesday and China on Thursday (December 12).
— Bernama
