Dice rolls in favour of hosts

A right midfield scoop by Zulkifli Rejab saw the ball drop just outside the top of the circle. Two defenders and the Korean goalkeeper, who had advanced, were left stranded as the ball bounced over their heads to a lurking Ismail Abu who managed to get a touch to the ball as it sped into the net.

The victory took the unbeaten Malaysians to seven points and won them a berth in the round of four, their first since 2000 in this tournament. Also, it was Malaysia’s first win over Korea in 10 years.

The Koreans face elimination, as have three points and an unfinished game with Pakistan in hand. The Pakistanis are better placed on four points. The two will play out the remaining 43 minutes of their game that was abandoned last night due to power failure, tomorrow with the scores level at 2-2.

The Koreans contributed to their own downfall as they matched their rivals in creating and missing scoring opportunities. Perhaps, the worst of misses in the entire match was by Malaysian skipper and striker Chua Boon Huat who failed to push the ball home despite having an empty goal in the 63rd minute. Huat had missed a couple of other opportunities early in the match and his failures seemed to have rubbed off on other players.

The Malaysian hearts fluttered in the dying seconds when the Koreans forced three back-to-back penalty corners, all of which however, were abortive. The last two awards came after the end-of-match hooter went.

Earlier two first-half goals powered Pakistan to a comfortable victory over lowly Canada in a Group B match of the 16th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here today.

The Pakistanis were rarely in trouble, especially after Shabbir Khan deflected home an Akhtar Ali reverse hit in the fourth minute.

Ali then came up with a brilliant solo run in the 33rd minute and capped it with a carpet shot to the boards for the second goal that effectively killed the Canadian challenge.

The victory, their first in two matches following a draw with Malaysia, took Pakistan to four points while the Canadians completed their league engagements without a win.