Asia Cup: Malaysian Tigress Crush Thailand 6-2

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- The national women’s hockey squad secured another victory after defeating Thailand 6-2 in their second classification match for fifth to eighth placing at the 2025 Women’s Asia Cup in Hangzhou, China, today.

Malaysia started strongly, going 2-0 up after Khairunnisa Ayuni Mohd Sharuddin and Nurmaizatul Hanim Syafi Shiek Fuad converted their penalty corners in the sixth and 21st minutes.

Trailing by two goals, Thailand closed the gap through Supansa Samanso’s penalty corner in the 28th minute.

However, the Malaysian Tigress quickly regained momentum, with Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli scoring in the 30th minute before Azmyra Mia Sofea Azhari extended the lead five minutes later.

Thailand responded again when Supansa converted a penalty stroke in the 42nd minute.

Malaysia swiftly sealed the win as Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar struck in the 43rd minute, followed by Nuramirah Shakirah’s second goal via a penalty corner three minutes later.

National head coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim expressed satisfaction with his players’ performance while noting several areas for improvement ahead of their third match against Taiwan this Saturday.

“It was a good performance, especially as we created chances early and scored six goals, a big margin. Even though we conceded two goals, we can still improve on those weaknesses.

“For the match against Taiwan, we will prepare the same way as we did against Thailand. We must work on finishing and our defence,” he said in a video clip shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation today.

Yesterday, Mohd Nasihin’s charges began their challenge with a 5-1 win over Singapore.

Malaysia had earlier missed out on a spot in the top two of Group A to advance to the “Super 4s” stage, finishing third with three points.

Malaysia’s best achievement in the history of the tournament was third place in the inaugural edition in Seoul in 1985.

-- BERNAMA