Malaysia edge India to reach first-ever Asiad hockey final

 

The hero: Mohd Amin reels off in delight after scoring the winner in extra time in the semi-final against India at the Aoti Hockey Stadium

MALAYSIA have earned a victory to treasure. Against all odds, they qualified for their first-ever final in Asian Games men’s hockey history by defeating India at the Aoti Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Defender Mohd Amin Rahim’s penalty corner golden goal in the 75th minute of the semi-final match was enough to give Malaysia a 4-3 win.
Malaysia are now just one match away from the gold medal – and a direct ticket to the 2012 London Olympics.

They will take on Pakistan tomorrow. The Pakistanis advanced with a 4-3 penalty shootout win over the South Koreans after both teams were tied at 1-1 after extra time.
The Malaysia-India match was a topsy-turvy one indeed, with both teams taking turns to go ahead.
It was Malaysia who drew first blood with a Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin field goal in the 32nd minute.
Their joy was short-lived as India equalised three minutes later with a penalty conversion by Sandeep Singh.
Then, two minutes into the second half, India took the lead when Tushar Khandker capitalised on a cross, which Amin failed to clear.


Malaysia fought back to draw level in the 49th minute off a penalty corner setpiece. Instead of flicking the ball towards goal, Amin pushed it for Azlan Misron to score his sixth goal of the tournament.
Five minutes later, India regained their lead off their third penalty corner through skipper Rajpal Singh.
With three minutes left on the clock in regulation time, and India up 3-2, not many would have given Malaysia a ghost of a chance to pull level.

But this Malaysian team is made of sterner stuff. They refused to give up and were rewarded with a third penalty corner.
That was the cue for Amin, who beat goalkeeper Bharat Kumar Chetri with a drag flick to take the match into sudden-death extra time.
And five minutes into extra-time, Amin turned hero for Malaysia.
The 30-year-old Amin, who is playing in his third Asian Games, was thrilled to bits to score two very important goals of his career to help Malaysia reach the final.
“I am so happy today as I never thought that I would be the one who will score the goal to take Malaysia into the final,” he said.

“I was under pressure after I allowed the Indian forward (Tushar) to score just after the start of the second half because of poor defending.
“However, I am glad that I made up for my blunder with the equaliser in regulation time and then getting the golden goal.”
Coach Stephen van Huizen was full of praise for his boys’ tremendous fightback.

“The boys never gave up and continued to create chances to salvage the match. The boys played their hearts out and this is the best moment for me in my coaching career,” he said.
“The team came under heavy fire for the poor outing in the Delhi Commonwealth Games last month but today we proved everyone wrong by playing our best to reach the final.


Star