A stroke of brilliance from T. Naaveenesh Panicker, Ammar Qusyairi Abd
Halim, and Muhammad Danish Irfan ruffled New Zealand as the Malaysian
Young Tiger squad romped to a 4-2 victory in the Sultan of Johor Cup at the
Johor Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
The victory came at a time the Malaysians needed the best of luck to
advance further in the tournament after a devastating 2-7 defeat against
Pakistan in an earlier match. They rose to great heights to hold two-time
champions Australia to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Naaveenesh, who was named Man of the Match in the match against New
Zealand, scored two goals (16 th , 19 th ), and Ammar extended the lead to 3-0
in the very next moments, much to the delight of local fans.
The Young Tigers now face another big hurdle in their path in the form of
defending champions Great Britain. The experience of playing under
pressure at the highest level will help them.
Great Britain, with three points to boast, are in fifth spot, having won one
game and lost two, while the Malaysians are in fourth place (4 points).
The Kiwis, who had defeated the Malaysians 3-2 at the 2024 edition,
reduced the deficit through Javahn Jones (44 th ) and Rocco Ludolph (47th) in
a space of three minutes.
However, as the clock ticked away with three minutes remaining towards
the end of regulation time, Muhammad Danish made the best of the
opportunities by placing the ball into an unmarked goalmouth following
New Zealand coach Mike Delaney’s decision to opt for a power play five
minutes earlier.
An elated Malaysian head coach Nor Saiful Zaini said: “We planned the
game and executed it well. The players are quick to learn in this team. And
then, there were things that we didn’t expect to happen. For example,
leading 3-0, we missed some opportunities, and then we saw New
Zealand’s resurgence at that time.”
“That’s something we need to learn. The team has improved a lot after our
opening match defeat against Pakistan. We don’t want to be defending
throughout the whole quarter. We would lose the ball, then defend again.
They scored two goals while we were under pressure. We need to learn to
control our game,” added Nor Saiful.
Man of the Match Naaveenesh echoed: “Obviously, it’s a big achievement
for me and something that I’ve always wanted. Scoring two goals is not
easy against New Zealand or any other world-ranked teams. I am looking
towards scoring more goals,” said the 20-year-old Naaveenesh, who aspires
to further his studies at Uniten (UNITEN).
