KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- The national men’s hockey team defeated South Korea 5-2 to end their Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) 2026 campaign with a bronze medal in Punjab, India, today.
Malaysia got their third-placing match off to a flying start at the Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium, with Mohammad Fitri Saari opening the scoring in the second minute.
South Korea, however, drew level through a Park Geunwoo penalty corner three minutes later before taking a 2-1 lead through Chun Semin’s field goal in the 13th minute.
Undaunted, Malaysia fought back to level the scores at 2-2, courtesy of Faizal Saari’s 34th minute penalty corner goal, before Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal struck twice with field goals in the 45th and 50th minutes to put the Speedy Tigers 4-2 ahead.
Muhammad Marhan Mohd Jalil then sealed a convincing victory for Malaysia, making it 5-2 with a penalty corner conversion in the 58th minute.
The bronze-medal achievement saw Brendon Carolan’s charges improve on their performance at the 2024 edition in Hulunbuir, China, where they could only manage a sixth-placed finish.
-- BERNAMA