KUALA LUMPUR: The national women’s hockey team suffered their third defeat in four matches when they went down 2-1 to Japan in the round-robin stage of the 2024 Women’s Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar, India today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Malaysia initially took the lead through a field goal by Nur Iman Adawiyah Mohd Suhami in the 26th minute. However, Japan responded with goals from Shiho Kobayakawa in the 49th minute and Miyu Hasegawa two minutes later, securing the victory for Japan.

Malaysia currently holds the fourth position in the six-team standings with three points. They achieved this by defeating South Korea 2-1 but suffered losses to India and China, with scores of 4-0 and 5-0, respectively. China leads the standings with nine points, with India also having nine points in second place, followed by Japan with five points in third. South Korea and Thailand are in fifth and sixth places, respectively, each with one point.

The top four teams will advance
to the semi-finals, while the bottom two will compete in the fifth-sixth playoff match. Malaysia is set to conclude their round-robin fixtures against Thailand tomorrow.

Last year, Malaysia ended their ACT campaign in fifth place after narrowly defeating Thailand 1-0 in Ranchi, India.