Faizal accepts defeat, as India outclass Malaysia for Asiad gold
GIFU: Veteran hockey forward Faizal Saari admitted that India were just a class above after Malaysia were trounced 5-1 by the former in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games final here today.
Veteran Indian hockey player Faizal Saari accepted defeat as India dominated Malaysia 5-1 in the Asiad gold medal match at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium today. Harmanpreet Singh put India ahead in the 11th minute with a penalty corner, but Malaysia's Shello Silverius equalized just three minutes later. India then went on to score through Jugraj Singh (23rd minute, penalty corner), Hardik Singh (42nd minute, penalty), Shilanand Lakra (54th minute) and Harmanpreet again (57th minute).
Disappointed Faizal acknowledged that his team had tried their best to keep India at bay, but felt they were unable to maintain their momentum in the second half. He believed they performed well in the first half but could not capitalize on the advantage. Malaysia's defeat means they missed out on gold for the third time, having lost to Pakistan and Japan in previous finals.
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.
