Firhan Ashaari leads Malaysia to bronze as they defeat Japan 1-0 in Asian Champions Trophy
Mohamed Firhan Ashaari, the promising young Malaysian striker, has emerged as a surprise hero for Malaysia after scoring the last minute thrilling goal against Japan in the bronze medal game at the inaugural edition of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament
played in Ordos, China on Sunday, September 11.
The 18-year-old young gun scored the solitary goal of the match just seven seconds before the final whistle and led Malaysia to a 1-0 nerve-racking victory to claim the bronze medal in the event.
The match proved to be a nail-biting encounter between two of the talented sides that eventually went to Malaysia. Both teams fought very hard throughout the entire time and they created a number of good scoring opportunities but remained goalless until
the dying seconds of the match. The Malaysians eventually found the Japanese net with the youngster Mohamed Firhan Ashaari scoring just seven seconds before the close of the play.
Tai Beng Hai, the coach of the Malaysian national hockey team, looked delighted over the victory against Japan as they defeated them for a second time in the tournament.
“It was tough and both teams were tired. This was a match where the team who took their chances well will come out on top. It could easily have been the Japanese. They did try hard as well,” Beng Hai stated after the match.
“I must give credit to Firhan for his display and he did well to keep going until the end. There is no doubt that the young players have responded to our call to learn and gain from the outings but overall all the players played well,” Beng Hai further stated
about his team’s performance especially the youngsters in the tournament.
He also added to his comments that the tournament was a good learning stage for the team as they are going to prepare themselves for the upcoming and very important even, the Olympic qualifiers, scheduled to be held next year.
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