Malaysia roars, Pakistan surrenders

KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 10. History was created today as Pakistan's stranglehold on the Junior Asia Cup ended on a hot and steamy Malaysian night here today.

Pakistan, beaten by Korea yesterday, was expected to come up with a lion-hearted performance against the Malaysians but instead turned out to be a pussycat in the encounter.

It was rattled by the hard-running Malaysians and lost 1-3 in a pulsating match which had the 8,000-odd crowd on its feet right from the word start.

Malaysia went into the match needing only a draw but it stunned the Pakistanis with its attacking play. The host dominated the opening minutes and it was a surprise to see it take a long time to open its account. When the first goal eventually came, it turned out to be an absolute beauty.

Off Malaysia's second penalty corner of the match, Chua Boon Huat, playing as a sweeper, drove the ball low and Jiwa Mohan dived to deflect the ball past Shabbir Hussain in the Pakistani goal.

Four minutes later, the crowd was up again as Logan Raj, easily Malaysia's best player of the half, weaved down the left flank, cutting the Pakistani defence to shreds. His through ball found Norazlan Rahim who in turn passed to Keevan Raj.

Keevan turned a defender and squared the ball to Suhaimi Ibrahim who flicked home with his back to the goal.

Malaysia was now oozing confidence and had several other chances to increase the lead, knowing that a three-goal margin would give it the top spot in Group A and thus, avoid India in the semifinals.

But in its haste to attack, it left the back door open and Pakistan capitalised when Sammer Hussain's shot crept over the line after a mix-up between Malaysian 'keeper S. Kumar and S. Shanker.

The second half was very much like the first with Malaysia doing all the attacking. Pakistan had its chances but its final ball in was always well anticipated by Shanker and Boon Huat.

The killer third goal arrived in the 48th minute. Keevan's freehit eluded two defenders and Norazlan Rahim stretched to deflect the ball home. The all-important fourth goal for Malaysia, which would have given it the top slot, however failed to materialise.

Mohd. Fairuz Ramli nearly got it for Malaysia but his shot on the turn after 61 minutes hit the post and bounced out.

Cautious Japan survived an early scare before despatching stubborn Uzbekistan 6-2 in the final group B tie.

Uzbekistan, with nothing but pride to play for, took the lead with a shock 13th-minute strike when Domiyor Dek Holmir Zaed flicked off a penalty corner.

The Uzbeks rejoiced - and as did the Chinese who were hoping for a Japenese defeat - and they managed to keep the Japanese at bay until the 22nd-minute when Watanabe Yusuke collected a pass from Kikkawa Yasuhiro and sent ball into the goal.

Three minutes later, Takeshi Tamekuni's stinger from a penalty corner whizzed past Marsel Askarov in the Uzbek goal to lift the gloom on the Japanese bench. Takeshi, who was outstanding the defence, struck two more in the 46th and 55th minutes to complete his hat-trick as Japan took control after the breather.

Kazuyuki Ozawa scored from close range upon restart as Japan pushed up the tempo. It charged forward and was awarded a stroke which Takeshi easily converted in the 46th minute to make it 4-1.

Sherzod Bayaraev pulled another back for the Uzbeks in the 53rd minute but Takeshi's hat-trick off another penalty corner ended their fightback. Ozawa put the final nail in the Uzbek coffin when he scored his second of the match five minutes from time.

Chinese forward Song Yi, who had 11 goals prior to the match, grabbed a double hat-trick as his team mauled Iran 17-0 in the third match of the day. The other scorers for China were Na Yuba, Yang Guang Sen, Jiang Xishang, Quia Yundan (2), Yu Yang (2) and He Xu.

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