Asian Games: Malaysia thrash Kazakhstan in hockey opener
KUALA LUMPUR: The scores made Malaysia look good, but coach CR Kumar was not impressed.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's women's hockey team delivered an impressive opening performance at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, defeating Kazakhstan 5-0 in their Group A match. The victory marked Malaysia's 10th consecutive win over Kazakhstan since 2012, putting them in a strong position for the tournament.
India's CR Kumar, who took over as coach of the Malaysian team in April, expressed disappointment with several missed opportunities. Despite having seven penalty corners, the team managed to convert only one, and failed to capitalize on a penalty stroke. Kumar attributed these failures to the team's lack of recent tournament experience, stating, "We wasted a number of penalty corners as we had seven and converted only one.
We also failed to convert a penalty stroke. This happens because we did not played any tournament prior to the Asian Games."
Malaysia's scoring spree began early, with four goals coming in the first 21 minutes. The goals were scored by Nuraimah Shakira Zulkifli (9th, 21st), Khairunnisa Ayun Sharuddin (12th), and Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar (17th, 49th). The team will face Bangladesh, China, Taiwan, and South Korea in their remaining group matches.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
