Malaysia started their women’s hockey event with a bang when they defeated Hong Kong 8-0 in the opening Group A match in the Asian Games at the GBK hockey Stadium.It was a one-way traffic for the Malaysians as they fully dominated the game and could have won by a bigger margin.
But as coach, Muhammad Dharmaraj Abdullah said they were more concerned in aiming sure the player stayed with the structure and take all three points from the game.
Malaysia is ranked 22nd in the world FIH list while the Hong Kong team is a further down at 44.
The Malaysians dominate the game to such an extent that the Hong Kong team had only two shots at goal in the match.
After a slow start, the Malaysians managed to get the first goal when the earned their third penalty corner in the 13th minute.
The initial drag flick taken by Nuraini Abd Rashid was fouled by the Hong Kong defence which resulted in a penalty stroke. Nuraini made no mistake in converting the attempt for the opening goal.
The Malaysians stepped up their attack and in the second quarter managed to increase their lead when Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli scored a field goal in the 16th minute. The Malaysians at that stage continued to dominate the game.
The second half saw the Malaysians starting off strongly as they scored two goals in a space of four minutes.
Hanis Nadia Onn scored in the 31st minutes from a field attempt while Nuramirah was on target for the fourth goal in the 34th minute.
In the 44th minute the Malaysians earned their fifth penalty corner and Nuraini’s flick was stopped on the line by a Hong Kong player. Malaysian sought a video referral and that resulted in a penalty stroke when it was found that it had hit the defender’s leg.
Nuraini scored her second goal of the match from the spot. Malaysia led 5-0.
The Malaysians continued to keep up the pressure and in the 50th minute, Fazilla Sylvester Silin scored a field goal for goal number six.
In the 57thth minute, Nuraini completed a hattrick with a direct penalty corner goal.
Norazlin Sumantri ended the rout with their eighth goal in the 58th minute.
Malaysian coach Dharmaraj said that they were slow in getting off the blocks but felt that securing the three points was more important.
“I am happy that we started off on a winning note. We could have done better if the players had been sharp in front of goal. They were slow to start off and that is why the goals came late. In the end it was a comfortable win.
“We have a tougher match next against China and that means we need to improve on our game. I believe that we stand a chance of taking points off them if we can play a more consistent game,” he said.
The Malaysians play China on Thursday after a three-day break.
