South Korea vs. Malaysia: 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Mid-Match Report
South Korea and the host Malaysia are battling it out in their match of the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia on May 12.
The first-half ended up with scores intact at 1-0.
As the match set off, there were equal exchanges from both the sides in the first three minutes. However, the match picked up pace when the South Koreans took possession of the ball and rushed towards the Malaysian defensive circle. A mistake from the Malaysian
end allowed South Korea to receive a lethal penalty stroke in the eighth minute.
However, the attempt made by Korea’s Jang Jong Hyun was tremendously saved by the Malaysian goal-keeper Kumar Subramiam. In a matter of three minutes, Malaysia’s forward line penetrated into the South Korean defensive circle when Nabil Fiqri earned a penalty
corner for his team in the 13th minute.
However, a deflection made by Hafifihafiz Hanafi unfortunately passed over the top of the bar, keeping the match scoreless.
In the next four minutes of the match, both teams were found struggling for possession of the ball, but errors lead to turnovers and the teams failed to break into each other’s 25-metre area.
However, South Korea received a penalty corner in the 17th minute. This attempt was made by Nam Hyun Ho who put his team in the lead with the inaugural score of the match, as he converted the corner into a score at 1-0.
The pressure was building for Malaysia with South Korea in the lead as they chased the ball, seeking an equaliser. However, the South Koreans dominated the field with strong exchanges and earned another penalty corner in the 25th minute.
Unfortunately, the penalty did not end up fruitful for the team and was easily denied by Kumar. In the 29th minute, Malaysia was on the go towards the Korean defensive circle and earned itself a penalty corner.
However, a poor attempt by Razie Rahim was comfortably deflected out of the circle by the first runner in the penalty corner execution.
The rest of the minutes ended up with no more additions to the scoreboard, closing the first-half at 1-0.
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