Chennai: Malaysia defeated Pakistan 3-1 in the Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament in Chennai on Thursday.
For Malaysia, Firhan Ashari scored two goals in the 28th and 29th minutes while Shello Silverius gave them a 3-0 lead in the 44th minute.
Abdul Rehman scored Pakistan’s solitary goal in the 55th minute.
Although Pakistan dominated most of the match, Malaysia’s far superior finishing ability proved to be the key difference between the teams.
The Green Shirts, playing at international level again after a seven-month break, missed several goal scoring opportunities and even missed a penalty stroke in the 53rd minute.
Pakistan will now face South Korea in the second match of the tournament.
Meanwhile, India swept China 7-2 in its opening match.
For the hosts, Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar scored 2 goals each. The other 3 goals were scored by Sukhjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh.
E Wenhui and Jiesheng Gao scored for China to reduce the deficit.
In another match, defending champions South Korea defeated Japan 2-1 in a thrilling encounter.
Japan’s Ryoma Oooka scored the first goal of the tournament before Cheoleon Park equalised in the 26th minute.
Kim Junghoo’s skillful execution of a penalty corner gave Korea the decisive 2-1 lead.
