KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 – The Malaysian Men’s 60s veteran hockey team dazzled to a 5-0 victory over Hong Kong China in their opening match of the World Masters Hockey (WMH) Asian Championships 2023 at the Hong Kong Football Club on Monday.
Former national team captain Sarjit Singh scored all five goals – three via penalty corner conversions and two field goals.
The Malaysian team, led by Datuk Seri Surinder Singh Dhaliwal, earned five penalty corners against Hong Kong China’s one.
“We played well throughout this match and rotated all our players, giving every one the opportunity to play. Our defence was strong and both goalkeepers – Rohayuddin Abdul Rashid and Choy KA Hooi were equally outstanding,” said Sarjit.
The 60s team will play Japan on Tuesday.
The Malaysian Men’s 40s team also got off to a winning start following a 4-0 victory over Singapore. However, their 50s counterpart suffered a 1-2 defeat against Switzerland Spirit of Masters (SoM).
Singapore dominated the match, earning eight penalty corners but failed to score while the Malaysians had three penalty corners.
Vasandan scored a brace from a penalty stroke (4th minute) and penalty corner (45th minute) while Khairuddin Mohd Ghani (22nd) and Mazlan Ismail (29th) scored apiece.
“Overall, it was a good performance against a Singapore side made up of many expatriate players,” said team manager Kali Kavandan.
“Our next game is against Bangladesh on Tuesday.”
Though the 50s team defeat against Switzerland SoM was a setback for the Malaysians, all matches against Spirit of Masters teams are not awarded points.
Chandrasegar Ramasamy gave the Malaysians the lead with a third minute field goal but the Swiss rallied back to score two goals through Sacha Overhoff’s 46th minute penalty stroke and Toni Haberthur’s field goal in the 56th minute.
Team manager Thevandra Naidu said: “We used this game to test all the players before Tuesday’s important match against Hong Kong China. We expect a tough match against them.”
About The Author
