28-06-2025
Missed chances leave Malaysia in 6th place at Hockey Nations Cup
Malaysia's Andywalfian Jeffrynus in action against Sam Welsh of Wales in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup classification match today. (Bernama pic)
KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia finished in sixth place in the 2025 FIH Hockey Nations Cup after losing 1-2 to Wales at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Both teams displayed a balanced style of play in the classification match for 5th-6th place, before the Speedy Tigers took the lead in the 20th minute through a penalty corner conversion by defender Syed Mohammad Syafiq Syed Cholan.
Wales pulled level in the 42nd minute through a penalty corner by Rhys Bradshaw. However, it was Gareth Furlong who proved to be Malaysia's thorn in the side when he scored the winning goal with just 10 minutes remaining in the match.
Malaysia's 6th placing is a step up from the team's 7th place in the 2024 tournament held in Gniezno, Poland. In the match for seventh place also held today, Japan defeated South Africa 2-1.
National head coach Sarjit Singh said his players' performance was still far from satisfactory, citing a lack of speed and missed chances to kill off the game at the right moment.
'The young players need to learn. We cannot afford to make mistakes when we're leading 1-0 and thus we paid the price. But it's okay, the good thing is every player's commitment on the pitch was good. Only thing we need to improve is our marking in defence,' he told reporters after the match.
