MALAYSIA won their first bronze medal in the Champions Challenge 1 when they beat Ireland 3-2 in Kuantan yesterday.
For the record, the hosts only had two fourth placings to show, previously achieved in 2001 in Kuala Lumpur and 2013 in Argentina.
And it was also Malaysia’s first ever medal in an International Hockey Federation (FIH) open tournament, as the other silver and bronze medals were from the Azlan Shah Cup invitational and the Asian Games. Malaysia have only won gold at the Sea Games level.
“I’m very proud of the players as they achieved a milestone in Malaysian hockey today (yesterday) but there a lot of work to be done in our defence as we prepare for the World Cup which is just around the corner.
“We had our chance to play in the final but blew it against Canada, and now we will work to finish at least ninth (among 12 teams) in the World Cup,” said Malaysia coach K. Dharmaraj.
The coach is also looking at minimal changes to the suqad as there is no time left leading to the World Cup: “Maximum there might be two or three chances to the squad as I do not have time on my side. But after the World Cup, there might be more chances as we prepare for the Asian Games gold medal (Olympic ticket),” said Dharmaraj.
RESULTS — Final: Canada 0 South Korea 4; Third-Fourth: Malaysia 4 Ireland 2; Fifth-Sixth: New Zealand 6 France 3; Seventh-Eighth: Japan 3 Poland 2. By Jugjet Singh