Faizal to the rescue as Speedy Tigers end tour with draw

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 -- The national men’s hockey squad ended their 2021 United Kingdom Tour Series by holding France to a 2-2 draw in a friendly match at the Wales Hockey Centre tonight.

The two teams had fought out a 1-1 draw on Friday (Oct 15).

Under the Tour Series, Malaysia played six friendlies - winning one, drawing four and losing one - and four Test matches, of which they won three and lost one.

In tonight’s friendly, coach A. Arulselvaraj’s Speedy Tigers opened the scoring with a field goal by Shello Silverius in the 27th minute before world number 13 France hit back with two penalty corner goals in the 38th and 43rd minutes. 

Faizal Saari then came to the rescue when he slotted home penalty corner setpiece in the 46th minute to save Malaysia, who are now ranked 10th in the world, the blushes.

“The 2021 United Kingdom Tour Series has gone well for us because we managed to achieve our target, that is to complete the series by finishing in the world’s top 10 and we also played six matches against international sides,” Arulselvaraj said in a statement issued by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC).

Meanwhile, the vastly experienced Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim said that, overall, the UK tour series went very well, especially in the way the team showed improved performances in every game.

“There were a lot of positives we can take from the tour series but there are also some things we need to work on. All the players are happy with the situation now,” he said.

-- BERNAMA