MELAKA, May 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia created history by emerging champion in the Junior Asia Cup for the first time after beating three times former champion Pakistan 2-1 in a thrilling encounter at the Bukit Serindit hockey stadium here Sunday night.
Pakistan, winners of the trophy in 1987 (Pakistan), 1992 (Ipoh) and 1996 (Singapore) were stunned in the second minute of the match with a superb penalty corner strike by Faizal Saari while Mohd Syamim Mohd Yusof made it 2-0 in the 17th minute with a field goal.
More than 7,000 hockey fans who filled the stadium to the brim, including Sultan Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, Malaysian Hockey Confederation President Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and Melaka Yang Dipertua Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob were treated to an entertaining match.
Malaysia started the match aggressively and earned a penalty corner which Faizal placed to the far left hand corner beyond Pakistan goalkeeper Mazhar Abas' stretched arms.