Jalandhar, Oct 27 (PTI) Asian Games silver medallist Malaysia and Japan were made to work hard to register close wins over China and Korea in their opening round-robin matches of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament here on Tuesday.
While Malaysia beat China 5-4 in a high-scoring tournament lung opener, Japan got the better of Korea 3-2 at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium.
Abu Kamal Azrai (4th, 14th minutes) scored two field goals, while Faizal Saari (34th) fired from the spot. Akhimullah Anuar (14th) scored from a field effort and Azimuddin Kamaruddin (35th) found the net from a set piece for Malaysia.
For China, Benhai Chen (27th, 44th) scored a brace, while Yaqi Wang (11th) and Moda Ne (12th) were the other goal getters.
In the second match, Japan scored through Kentaro Fukuda (14th), Ryoma Ooka (36th) and Kazumasa Matsumoto (52nd) while Korea’s goals came from penalty corners through Sangjun Han (15th) and Junseong Jeong (59th).
Malaysia will play Korea in their next round-robin match on Thursday, while Japan will be up against Bangladesh.
Later in the evening, Asian Games champions India will take on Bangladesh in their opening encounter. PTI SSC AM SSCstar AM
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