Pakistan, who were winners in 1982, 1985 and 1989, will meet 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medallists South Korea in the final tomorrow. Besides the Cup, the champions will also earn a direct entry to the World Cup Finals in India next year.
Malaysia will now play against China for the bronze medal.
Before the start of the match against Malaysia yesterday, Pakistan forward Mohamed Saqlain was given a memento by his captain, Zeeshan Asraf, for making his 300th appearance for his country.
The match got off to a furious start and Pakistan gained their first penalty corner in the second minute. Fortunately for the Malaysians, the execution was poorly done. Malaysia counter attacked and Ismail Abu latched on to a pass to score from an acute angle with a reverse hit.
The Pakistanis recovered sufficiently to apply pressure on the Malaysians. And in one of the raids in the 19th minute, Rehan Butt deflected a long cross from Haseem Khan into goal.
Pakistan had two more penalty corners in the 34th and 35th minutes to increase their score but both attempts taken by Sohail Abbas were well defended by the Malaysians.
In the second half, Pakistan were the stronger of the two sides and their attacks along the left had the Malaysians reeling time and again.
In the 47th minute, Akhtar Ali scored from close range. In the 63rd minute, the Pakistanis broke through and Rehan finished off the move with a strike from the top D. Three minutes later, Pakistani junior Haseem was on target.
Malaysia earned a consolation goal in the 70th minute when Ismail scored off a penalty corner rebound.
Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai said they failed to take their early chances and allowed Pakistan to take control.
“It’s always difficult when you allow them to come at you and give them space to attack. We matched them early in the match and should have scored the equaliser in the second half. Instead they made better use of their chances,” he said.
“I am not disappointed with my players’ performance but it was just that they were lacking in some areas today.”
Malaysia: S. Kumar, Mohamed Amin Rahim, Mohamed Madzli Ikmar, Mohamed Shahrun Nubli, Mohamed Shukri Mutalib, Ismail Abu, Azlan Misron, Kelvinder Singh, Jiwa Mohan, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Nabil Fiqri Mohamed Nor.
Reserves: Chua Boon Huat, S. Selvaraju, Engku Abdul Malek, Baljit Singh, Hafifihafiz Hanafi.
Pakistan: Salman Akbar, Zeeshan Asraf, Ali Akhtar, Shakeel Abbasi, Sohail Abbas, Mohamed Irfan, Haseem Khan, Tariq Aziz, Rehan Butt, Waseem Ahmad, Sajjad Anwar.
Reserves: Mohamed Saqlain, Mohamed Imran, Fareed Ahmad, Mohamed Waqas, Abas Haider.
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