Asia Cup : Malaysia go down fighting against China

Malaysia gave defending champions China a good fight before going down 0-3 in a women’s Junior Asia Cup hockey Group A match at the Seremban II Hockey Stadium yesterday.

It was Malaysia’s second defeat in the tournament after a 1-2 loss to Japan in the opening match last Saturday.

China, who thrashed Thailand 18-0 in their opening match last Monday, took a lead with a fifth-minute penalty corner conversion by Wang Mengyu. And six minutes later, Huang Ting scored off another penalty corner.

China kept up the pressure but had to wait until the 64th minute to score their third goal with a ttempt from close range by Zhang Wenting.

National coach Yahya Atan said that he was satisfied the team managed to deal with the Chinese fast attacking play to keep a low margin of defeat.

“They were also physically much bigger and stronger than our players. It was a good learning experience for the team. But with the defeat, our hopes of finishing among the top four are over,” he said.

Malaysia will play against Pakistan tomorrow and they wrap up their group fixtures against Thailand on Thursday.