Paris Olympics-bound New Zealand went on a goal-scoring spree with a methodical performance in the 30th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh today.
The 7-1 victory saw the Kiwis continue their domination and winning streak over the Canadians since January this year. In the FIH Olympics qualifiers in Oman, New Zealand won 4-0.
The Black Sticks went ahead from a Scott Boyde’s field goal 17th seconds into the game and looked composed. They earned two penalty corners in the eighth and 11th minutes but Canadian goalkeeper Zachary Coombs was on top of it and parried away.
George Baker, however, added the second goal for New Zealand from an almost identical strike, sneaking the ball past Coombs with a powerful drive, and Jake Smith made it 3-0 from a penalty corner conversion to take a 3-0 lead at half time.
New Zealand had the upper hand in the third quarter with Baker and Smith pounding the oppositions with a brace each. Baker increased the scoreline to 4-0 with a 41st minute field goal and Smith sealed the fifth goal in similar fashion on the hooter.
Rowan Childs, however, pulled one back for Canada who had a hard day keeping the Kiwis at bay with a field goal in the 46th minute. Baker, however, increased the lead to 6-1 with a field goal (59th) and his first hat-trick in the tournament while Scott nailed the final goal in the last few seconds of regulation time to give New Zealand a deserving victory.
New Zealand dominated the show with 12 penalty corner opportunities and a free-flow attacking style much to the delight of their fans.
NEW ZEALAND: GREG NICOL (COACH)
“The conditions were really tough with the heat and we managed to come through and get on top Canada. It was a good start to the tournament although we should have scored more goals from the many penalty corners we had. It was not our best performance and we are looking at a different perspective.
Today. we scored the first goal fast but slowed down in the first quarter. The goalkeeper from Canada was outstanding and kept us at bay. In the next game against Japan, we hope to make some changes and improve our game.”
CANADA: PATRICK TSHUTSHANI (COACH)
“A tournament like this gives us an opportunity to improve our game. Today, we did not make a good start and the players certainly allowed New Zealand much room for too many penetrations that saw our defence crumble in the first half.
There is no doubt New Zealand is a strong team and fast in attack. We will learn from this defeat and hope to put up a better show against host Malaysia. “
Japan and South Korea encounters have always been exciting in the history of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and the show continued in the 30th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah (SAS) Cup in Ipoh this evening.
In the SAS Cup opening matches today, the Japanese, ranked 16th in the world, can thank Tsubasa Tanaka and 29-year-old Shota Yamada, who received the Man of the Match award, for turning the screws on the Koreans, ranked World No 11, with a field goal in the 13th minute, and extended the lead seven minutes later via a penalty corner conversion.
The Koreans threatened a strong comeback through Lim Dohyun from a penalty corner in the 47th minute but his powerful drive which went wide.
Despite being two goals down, the Koreans continued to play positive attacking hockey in the fourth quarter and earned a second penalty corner in the 52nd minute. Dohyun was spot on this time as the score stood at 2-1 in favour of the Japanese.
In the 2022 edition of the SAS Cup, the Koreans won 1-0 in the pool match. However, Japan and Korea last played each other at the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, India. The Koreans won 2-1 in a pool match but allowed Japan the upper hand by registering a 5-3 victory in the third-fourth placing match.
In tomorrow’s matches, Japan will face New Zealand, and South Korea take on Pakistan.
JAPAN: YOSUKA MATSUMURA (COACH)
“We respect South Korea as they are a strong hockey playing nation judging from their world ranking but today my players played aggressively, and went on the attacking mode.
As coach, I am happy and excited with this win. The three points is important as we continue our journey to play hard in the next matches. We will face stronger teams in the few days and we must prepare to face the challenges.
Shota is an experienced senior player and his presence in the team is important as he guides the youngsters. Our mission is to win the gold medal in the 2026 Asian Games.”
SOUTH KOREA: TAESEOK MIN (COACH)
“We have several young players, like most of the other teams, and they came under pressure early in the match. It was a good experience for them but they fought hard to get back into the match after two goals down.
The positive side is the players worked hard to score goals and played a much better game in the second half. We have four more tough matches and lean from this experience to give a better performance.”
The Speedy Tigers squad performed quite convincingly despite having to swallow a 4-5 defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the first action of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2024, just now.
The presence of more than 5,000 Malaysian fans who came to support the national men’s hockey team at the Azlan Shah Stadium gave additional motivation to the Speedy Tigers.
In the action, Pakistan first opened the scoring in the ninth minute through a penalty corner which was completed by Sufyan Khan.
Shocked by the goal, the Speedy Tigers quickly leveled the score through a field goal by Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal in the 13th minute and he again marked his name as a scorer in the 28th minute to put Malaysia ahead 2-1 before entering the dressing room.
Resuming the game, Speedy Tigers continued to increase the intensity of the game and as a result Azrai Aizad scored a hat-trick when he easily pushed the ball into Pakistan’s goal in the 45th minute also through a penalty corner.
However, Pakistan pulled one back through a penalty corner by Sufyan in the 50th minute, before Hayat Zikriya equalized three minutes later with a field goal.
Malaysia went back in front in the 58th minute through Shello Silverius for the fourth goal but Sufyan equalized a minute later, before Abu Bakar Mahmood
scored the winning goal by completing a stroke penalty at the end of the game.
For the record, the last meeting between the two teams in the 2024 Olympic Games qualification match in Oman last January ended with a 3-3 result, while the last time Malaysia scored a victory over Pakistan was in 2023 in the Asian Champions Trophy campaign (3-1). .
Malaysia’s forward Azimuddin Shakir Kamaruddin (with ball) in action against Pakistan in the SAS Cup at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Ipoh on Saturday night. Pakistan won 5-4.
MALAYSIA: SARJIT SINGH (COACH)
“We were punished for making a few mistakes and Pakistan took advantage of that to score. But praise should also be given to the players who showed a high level of commitment in this match.
As I said before, our plan is for the long term and if there are more matches like this, the players will learn to make less mistakes.
In the last five minutes we followed the pace of the crowd until we were punished but I hope the next game the fans will continue to come and support us.”
PAKISTAN: ROELANT OLTMANS
“A ‘crazy’ match was shown by both teams. It was very exciting to watch and we were lucky to win this game.
Malaysia made a mistake and we capitalized on that opportunity, as well as two mistakes losing the ball in the middle which my players shouldn’t have made and gave Malaysia a goal.
Kudos to the players, we only trained for less than a week to face this tournament.”
by Asia Hockey
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