The 2nd Asian Hockey Federation Indoor Championships got underway at the Indera Mulia Stadium in Ipoh with the Malaysian girls teams having mixed fortunes in the morning matches and the men's "A" team getting off to a winning start.
Malaysia 'A' got off to a winning start when they edged Malaysia 'B' 2-0 , but the performance of the day belonged to Uzbekistan who gave Thailand a lesson in indoor hockey, blanking them 13-1.
Malaysia 'A' represented by Sapura relied on old hands in the likes of S.Kuhan and Keevan Raj to net the goals in either half.
The win gives Malaysia 'A' sufficient match practice they need ahead of their game against the Thais tomorrow.
In the women's event, the hastily assembled Malaysian “B” team, represented by players from Raja Perempuan School Ipoh went down 6-2 to Kazakhstan while the Malaysia “A” team were held to a 3-3 draw by Iran.
Malaysia “A” dominated the opening half and forced six penalty corners but only found the net once, that through a penalty stroke converted by A. Kanagi in the 13th minute.
Comprising mostly of ex-internationals in the likes of Nor Saliza Ahmad Soobni, Kanagi, Nurul Nabila Burhanudin, the Malaysia “A” side were guilty of holding on to the ball for too long and not making use of the boards. And Iran capitalized by netting the equalizer in the 26th minute through Somayeh Yuosefi. Iran were awarded a penalty stroke in the 30th minute and Leila Rahimi made no mistake from the spot to give Iran the lead.
In the 32nd minute Kanagi slotted home from a penalty corner set piece to draw Malaysia “A” level before a mesmerizing run by her led to Malaysia being awarded a penalty stroke in the 34th minute which Nurul Nabila duly converted to put Malaysia 3-2 ahead. But Iran managed to equalize with two minutes left through Azar Teimouri Tollabi who converted a penalty corner.
Credit though must be given to the Malaysian “B” side as they only knew that they were required to participate last Thursday and with two days of training they gave the Kazak’s a good fight, despite the flattering scoreline.
Their spirit was further epitomized by the fighting display of Siti Rohayu Hashim (pix) who was determined to play on despite receiving a knock on her hand that required an x-ray to be done. She carried on playing with the hand swollen.
Malaysia “B” opened scoring through Amirah Waklif Ramlee in the 6th minute, but after that Kazakhstan took over. Gulnara Imangaliyeva equalized in the 13th minute before Yelena Velyanova put Kazak’s ahead in the 16th minute. By halftime they were 4-1 ahead thanks to goal by Natalia Gataulina (18th minute) and Vera Domashneva (19th minute).
Imangaliyeva put Kazak 5-1 ahead in the 30th minute before Mashitah Mohd Nasir reduced the deficit in the 33rd minute. Gataulina completed the scoring for Kazak in the next minute to give her team a comfortable 6-2 win.
In another match Uzbekistan defeated Thailand 4-2 thanks to a hattrick by Kristina Sereda.
She scored in the 13th, 24th and 33rd minutes to give Uzbekistan the valuable three points. Though Uzbekistan were the superior side though the Thai girls did create enough goal scoring chances but failed to capitalize. Uzbek’s other goal was scored by Difuza Sharipova in the 3rd minute while Thailand’s solitary goal was scored via Jirawana Nasaree in the 26th minute.
Malaysia 'A' got off to a winning start when they edged Malaysia 'B' 2-0 , but the performance of the day belonged to Uzbekistan who gave Thailand a lesson in indoor hockey, blanking them 13-1.
Malaysia 'A' represented by Sapura relied on old hands in the likes of S.Kuhan and Keevan Raj to net the goals in either half.
The win gives Malaysia 'A' sufficient match practice they need ahead of their game against the Thais tomorrow.
In the women's event, the hastily assembled Malaysian “B” team, represented by players from Raja Perempuan School Ipoh went down 6-2 to Kazakhstan while the Malaysia “A” team were held to a 3-3 draw by Iran.
Malaysia “A” dominated the opening half and forced six penalty corners but only found the net once, that through a penalty stroke converted by A. Kanagi in the 13th minute.
Comprising mostly of ex-internationals in the likes of Nor Saliza Ahmad Soobni, Kanagi, Nurul Nabila Burhanudin, the Malaysia “A” side were guilty of holding on to the ball for too long and not making use of the boards. And Iran capitalized by netting the equalizer in the 26th minute through Somayeh Yuosefi. Iran were awarded a penalty stroke in the 30th minute and Leila Rahimi made no mistake from the spot to give Iran the lead.
In the 32nd minute Kanagi slotted home from a penalty corner set piece to draw Malaysia “A” level before a mesmerizing run by her led to Malaysia being awarded a penalty stroke in the 34th minute which Nurul Nabila duly converted to put Malaysia 3-2 ahead. But Iran managed to equalize with two minutes left through Azar Teimouri Tollabi who converted a penalty corner.
Credit though must be given to the Malaysian “B” side as they only knew that they were required to participate last Thursday and with two days of training they gave the Kazak’s a good fight, despite the flattering scoreline.
Their spirit was further epitomized by the fighting display of Siti Rohayu Hashim (pix) who was determined to play on despite receiving a knock on her hand that required an x-ray to be done. She carried on playing with the hand swollen.
Malaysia “B” opened scoring through Amirah Waklif Ramlee in the 6th minute, but after that Kazakhstan took over. Gulnara Imangaliyeva equalized in the 13th minute before Yelena Velyanova put Kazak’s ahead in the 16th minute. By halftime they were 4-1 ahead thanks to goal by Natalia Gataulina (18th minute) and Vera Domashneva (19th minute).
Imangaliyeva put Kazak 5-1 ahead in the 30th minute before Mashitah Mohd Nasir reduced the deficit in the 33rd minute. Gataulina completed the scoring for Kazak in the next minute to give her team a comfortable 6-2 win.
In another match Uzbekistan defeated Thailand 4-2 thanks to a hattrick by Kristina Sereda.
She scored in the 13th, 24th and 33rd minutes to give Uzbekistan the valuable three points. Though Uzbekistan were the superior side though the Thai girls did create enough goal scoring chances but failed to capitalize. Uzbek’s other goal was scored by Difuza Sharipova in the 3rd minute while Thailand’s solitary goal was scored via Jirawana Nasaree in the 26th minute.
