Malaysia versus Pakistan: 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Day 9 Preview
Pakistan and Malaysia, the two finalist teams of the 16th Asian Games, will face each other on the ninth day of the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which is to be contested at the Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium, in Ipoh, Malaysia on May 14.
Pakistan Team
Pakistan, the winner of the 16th Asian Games, after losing two consecutive games, roared back and outclassed their arch-rival India by a commanding two goal-margin. It was a masterpiece performance from the Greenshirts, who have previously lost
to India in the last five contests.
However, the leader of the squad that clinched the Asiad, namely Zeeshan Ashraf, opted to miss the tournament in order to step up youngsters in the International hockey. Muhammad Imran was replaced with Zeeshan Ashraf for the Malaysia-based tournament.
In the current event, the Greenshirts made an impressive start by defeating New Zealand and South Korea in the opening two games. However, they failed to maintain their winning spirit and lost the very next two games in the hands of Great Britain and Australia,
both concluding at 3-2 and 5-1.
In the fifth match, the Pakistani team outplayed India by two goals and broke the winning drought of last five games. They not only defeated India, but ruined their dream to complete their hat-trick of invitational.
Currently, holding eighth place in the world rankings, the Greenshirts won the Asiad for the eighth time, Azlan Shah Cup three times, World Cup four times, Champions Trophy and Olympics Games three times, each. They are required to win with a great margin
in order to get a place in the finals.
Malaysian Team
Malaysia, currently the 15th ranked team, started the event in quite an unimpressive way. They lost four matches out of total five played so far. In the opening game, Great Britain edged past Malaysia by a single goal while it lost to Australia
by a single goal.
In the next two games, Malaysia was defeated by the hands of India, 5-2 and New Zealand by 3-2. After losing four straight games, they cranked up their offence and overwhelmed South Korea by two goals in the second last game of the invitational.
Before commencing the home-based tournament, few major changes were made in the national squad that took part in the Azlan Shah Cup. Experienced player, namely Azreen Rizal Nasir, was dropped from the squad after he was injured in the practice match against
New Zealand. It was a big disadvantage for them, as master short-corner specialist, namely Mohamed Amin Rahim, was also not part of the line-up for this match.
Players to watch
From the Greenshirts, Rehan Butt and world’s best drag-flicker Sohail Abbas will be the shine-out players in the game. Those two made the victory possible in the finals of the Asian Games. From the other side, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin has demonstrated his abilities
to the greatest in the previous competitions in the Azlan Shah Tourneys.
Head-to-Head Statistics
The last encounter between the two squads was the finals of the Asian Game, in which, Pakistan defeated Malaysia by two goals, 2-0 and captured the gold medal. In the Commonwealth Games, Pakistan took Malaysia down by three goals, 4-1.
Predictions
Pakistan will be stronger team of the contest and will easily manage a win at 3-1.
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