THE national women’s hockey team demonstrated exceptional penalty corner execution during their 5-1 victory against Singapore in the fifth-eighth classification match at the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup.
Coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim’s Speedy Tigress scored all five goals through penalty corner set pieces at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou, China.
Khairunnisa Ayuni Mohd Sharuddin opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a well-executed penalty corner conversion.
Dayang Nuramirah Abang Mahadini then scored two quick goals in the 16th and 18th minutes to extend Malaysia’s commanding lead.
Khairunnisa Ayuni secured her second goal just two minutes later, giving Malaysia a dominant 4-0 advantage by halftime.
Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli added Malaysia’s fifth goal in the 41st minute after the match resumed following a weather interruption.
Adverse weather conditions forced nearly an hour’s delay during the fourth and final quarter of the match.
Singapore managed a consolation goal in the 54th minute through Johana Hajarith’s penalty corner conversion as Malaysia reduced their intensity.
Malaysia will next face Thailand before concluding their classification round matches against Taiwan in the tournament.
The top two finishers in the classification round will compete in the fifth-sixth playoff match on Sunday.
Malaysia finished third in Group A with three points, failing to advance to the Super 4 round of the competition.
The team began their campaign with an 8-0 defeat to hosts China before responding with an impressive 11-1 victory against Taiwan.
South Korea delivered a 5-0 defeat to Malaysia in their final Group A match on Monday.
Malaysia’s best performance in the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup remains their third-place finish in the inaugural 1985 tournament in Seoul. – Bernama
