Malaysia finished in fifth place in women’s hockey at the Asian Games after a 2-0 win over Thailand at the GBK Hockey Stadium.

Malaysia finished in fifth place for the fourth consecutive time. They also finished in fifth place in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Their best placing was in 1982 when they finished with a bronze medal. In 1986 they were fourth.

The Malaysians had seven penalty corners in the match and scored one. The Thais only had one attempt.

National coach Muhammad Dharmaraj Abdullah was happy that they got the result but not with the performance.

“It is never easy playing the Thais as they tend to raise their game level against us. It is also not easy to motivate the players after their loss to Japan. The disappointment showed in the game.

“The instruction today was to win the match at all cost. The score did not matter and neither did the way we play.

“I am proud of the players for the performance in the tournament and we came close to a semi-final berth,” he said.

The Malaysians only took the lead in the 21st minute, Nuraini Abdul Rashid scored from their second penalty corner.

It is only in the 54th minute that Malaysia finally scored their second goal and seal the victory. The goal was scored by Hanis Nadia Onn from a field attempt.

Dharmaraj said that they will now have to go back to the drawing board and plan for the World Series next year.

“We do not have any tournament this year. But we need to start playing against the top sides to gain experience and there is also a need to look for more players and expose them to higher level matches. A long-term programme is needed,” he added.