KUALA LUMPUR: The national hockey team ended their round-robin fixtures in the 2024 Women’s Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) with a 2-0 win over Thailand at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in India today. Malaysia went ahead through a Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar penalty corner goal in the 41st minute before Nur Iman Adawiyah Mohd Suhaimi doubled their lead with a field goal in the 53rd minute.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Coach Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim’s charges will have to wait and see if they have qualified for the semi-finals as they are currently in third place in the six-team standings with six points from five matches. “This is our second win, but we did not play as well as we should have and there is a need to maintain certain aspects, like our fitness and strength because we are still far behind some of the Asian giants. Hopefully, the players know that they need to work harder if they want to consistently be placed among the best in Asia,” he said.

Malaysia’s semi-final hopes hinge on South Korea losing to
China or Japan going down to India in the other two matches later today. India currently top the standings with 12 points, followed by China with nine points. Japan are in fourth spot with five points, South Korea fifth with four points, and Thailand are at the bottom with one point.

Only the top four teams will advance to the semi-finals, while the bottom two teams will compete in the fifth-sixth placing playoff. Malaysia had previously edged South Korea 2-1 and lost three matches – 2-1 to Japan, 4-0 to India, and 5-0 to China. In last year’s edition, Malaysia finished fifth after beating Thailand 1-0 in Ranchi, India.