Malaysia edge China 5-4 in Asian Champions Trophy opener
Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal scored twice as Malaysia began their campaign in Jalandhar with victory. Akhimullah Anuar Esook was named man of the match.
Malaysia opened their Asian Champions Trophy campaign with a 5-4 victory over China at Jalandhar’s Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in India, recovering from an early deficit before holding off a late challenge.
Faizal Saari converted a penalty stroke in the 34th minute to put Malaysia 4-3 ahead. Azimuddin Kamaruddin added a penalty-corner goal a minute later. China cut the margin through Chen Benhai’s penalty corner in the 44th minute, but Malaysia retained their advantage.
Earlier, Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal had opened the scoring after four minutes. Wang Yaqi struck in the 11th minute and Ne Moda in the 12th to give China a 2-1 lead. Akhimullah Anuar Esook and Azrai both scored in the 14th minute, putting Malaysia back ahead before Chen equalised from a penalty corner in the 27th.
Akhimullah received the man-of-the-match award. China had beaten Malaysia 4-2 at the 2024 tournament in Inner Mongolia, where they finished as silver medallists.
Brendon Carolan expressed disappointment with Malaysia’s performance compared with their Asian Games showing, where they won silver. He said the hot, humid conditions affected their play and credited China’s performance. Carolan called for improvement in the remaining matches as Malaysia pursue their aim of reaching 12th in the world.
