Malaysia need only a draw against Japan today to qualify for the last-four.
Yesterday, minnows Bangladesh got their wish of scoring against a top hockey-playing country. But aside from that rare goal, they were grossly outplayed in every department.
It took just four minutes for Malaysia to open accounts with Mohamed Shahrun Nabil scoring a field goal.
Then Azlan Misron and Chua Boon Huat got into the act with two more field goals in the 13th and 16th minutes respectively. Mohamed Amin Rahim scored from a penalty corner hit in the 19th minute but a fumble in defence allowed Zahidul Islam to net for Bangladesh in the 28th minute.
The second half started off with a bang as well when Tengku Ahmad scored a brace in the 39th and 44th minutes. Ismail Abu then netted his first and Malaysia’s last goal six minutes later.
Earlier South Korea defeated Japan 3-2 in a closely fought match to virtually assure themselves of a semi-final berth as they play Bangladesh in their last group match.
Japan have to beat Malaysia to earn a berth in the semis.
Team manager Yamanaka Manabu said they will have no option but to go on the attack against Malaysia.
“Today (yesterday) we planned to hold the Koreans in the first-half and then attack in the second. It worked but they had the two-goal advantage against us in the second half. That made it a little difficult as they are a top team,” said Manabu.
Korea took the lead in the 12th minute through Jin Kyung-min but Japan were back on level terms in the 20th minute through Kei Kawakami.
But two penalty strokes in the 22nd and 35th minutes allowed the Koreans to take a 3-1 first-half lead. The strokes were converted by Lee Nam-yong. In the second-half the Japanese dominated play but despite all their hard work, they only managed to score one goal. This came in the 53rd minute when Takayasu Mizawa narrowed the score to 2-3 but then the Koreans held out to claim full points.
MALAYSIA: S. Kumar, Mohamed Amin Rahim, Mohamed Madzli Ikmar, Mohamed Shahrun Nubli, Mohamed Shukri Mutalib, Ismail Abu, Azlan Misron, Kelvinder Singh, Jiwa Mohan, Hafifihafiz Hanafi, Jivan Mohan.
Reserves: Baljit Singh, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Chua Boon Huat, S. Selvaraju, Engku Abdul Malek.
BANGLADESH: Mahbub Ullah Chowdhury Asm, Mamun Ur Rahman, Mosiur Rahman, Musharof Hossain Kuti, Ashaduzaman Chandan, Kamaruzaman Ahm, Zahidul Islam, Jimmy Rasel, Mohd Nannu Sheik, Zaid Bin Talib Shuvo, Barman Taposh.
Reserves: Shamsuddin Akm, Asiquzzaman Mohd, Nadir Iqbal, Khisa Pushkor, Rafiqul Islam.
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