Malaysia virtually through

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia have virtually qualified for the Asia Cup hockey tournament semi-finals after scoring a 2-0 win over Japan for their third consecutive win in Group A at the Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai yesterday.

Malaysia will play against three-time champions Pakistan in their final group fixture today. And a draw will be enough to give them the top spot in the group. In fact, a defeat by less than an 11-goal margin will still put Malaysia through to the semi-finals.

Malaysia are on the roll in the tournament - having scored 23 goals and conceded only one. In the previous two matches, they thrashed Singapore (8-0) and Hong Kong (13-1).

Yesterday, forward Ismail Abu scored in the first minute of the match and skipper Azlan Misron was on target in the 41st minute.

National coach Sarjit Singh said in a telephone interview from Chennai yesterday that he was delighted with the fighting spirit shown by his players against Japan.

"The boys played their hearts out and matched Japan in every aspect of the game. The win over the higher ranked Japan is very satisfying indeed," he said.

Japan are ranked 11th in the world against 16th for Malaysia.

Sarjit added that they would not take any chances against Pakistan, who are still in with a shot to reach the semi-finals.

In Group B, defending champions India chalked up their fourth consecutive win yesterday, beating Bangladesh 6-0 to book a place in the semi-finals.

The Indians, who finished a dismal fifth in the Doha Asian Games last December, will play against minnows Thailand today and should wrap up their group fixture with full points.

India have scored 30 goals and conceded only two thus far in the tournament. They edged China 1-0 in the opening match and went on to whip Sri Lanka 20-0 before chalking up an exciting 3-2 win over two-time winners and Asiad champions South Korea 3-2.

Against Bangladesh yesterday, two players scored a brace – V. R. Ragunath (31st, 66th) and Prabhjot Singh (49th, 57th). The other scorers were Tushar Khandkar (37th) and Shivender Singh (38th).