Hockey Olympic Qualifier: Controversial equaliser puts Japan in showdown with Germany

Malaysia’s bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics ended in controversial fashion when they were held to a 3-3 draw by hosts Japan at the Green Hockey Stadium in Kakamigahara yesterday.

The draw sees Japan making the final of the Olympic qualifiers against Germany. Only the winner will get to play in Beijing in August.

Malaysia, leading 3-2, were two minutes away from sealing a place in the final when Kenichi Katayama scored a hotly-disputed equaliser in the 68th minute off a penalty corner set piece.

The goal angered the Malaysian players, who surrounded umpire Murray Grime of Australia and the match was held up for almost 10 minutes.

The Malaysians, who felt that there had been an infringement prior to the goal being scored, wanted Grime to consult the third umpire before making his decision.

Instead, Grime only consulted the other umpire, Britain’s Hamish Jamson, before awarding the goal – and snuffing out Malaysia’s hopes of a place in the final and a shot at qualifying for the Olympics.

The Malaysian camp later lodged an official protest, but it was thrown out by tournament director Wiert Doyer of Holland.

National coach Sarjit Singh said after the match that they could have beaten the Japanese if not for the controversial goal.

“The players stuck to the game plan and performed better than expected. They were confident and all of them played their part well,” Sarjit said in a telephone interview from Kakamigahara.

“That controversial goal could have been give against any team and it so happened that it’s been given against us this time. It was not a goal as the ball touched a Japanese player’s leg before going in.

“It is a big blow to us as we played very hard and it is difficult to accept defeat this way. Anyway we hope to be ready for the classification match tomorrow (today) as we want to finish third, at least.”

As for the match itself, Malaysia adopted a defensive approach in the first-half but still managed to open the scoring through Chua Boon Huat in the 10th minute.

Akira Ito equalised for Japan in the 21st minute, Jiwa Mohan (28th) and Kelvinder Singh (33rd) struck to put Malaysia in control.

Although Tomonori Ono reduced the deficit in the 35th minute, Malaysia were looking good for a place in the final.

Then came the controversial goal. And, this time, it was game over for Malaysia.