KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia continued their excellent run in the 2025 Men's Hockey Asia Cup campaign (Aug 29-Sept 7) when they came from behind to defeat South Korea 4-1 in their second Group B match at the Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium in India today.
Yesterday (Aug 29), coach Sarjit Singh's men also had to fight back from a goal down before beating Bangladesh by a similar scoreline.
The second victory confirmed the Speedy Tigers’ place in the Super Four round with one group match against Taiwan remaining, which is scheduled to take place on Monday (Sept 1).
In today's clash, Mohamad Akhimullah Anuar Esook stole the show when he bagged a hat-trick - scoring two field goals (29th, 58th minutes) and a penalty corner goal (34th minute) - while Mohamad Ashran Hamsani chipped in with a goal in the 33rd minute.
South Korea had earlier taken the lead through a Jin Geonhyo field goal as early as the second minute.
The teams competing in Bihar are India, Japan, China and Kazakhstan (in Group A); as well as Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Bangladesh (Group B).
Only the top two teams from each group will qualify for the ‘Super 4’ competition, with the top two then meeting in the title showdown on Sept 7, with the champions getting a direct spot in next year's World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium.
-- BERNAMA
