Sports

Tuesday June 17, 2008

Hockey: Malaysia beat France to finish third in four-nation tourney

By S. RAMAGURU

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia scored a golden goal to beat France 3-2 in the playoff for third place of a four-nation junior hockey tournament in Poland on Sunday night.

It was the second win in the tournament for the national juniors. They also defeated France in the preliminary round.

Malaysia were 2-0 up with goals by Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin in the 31st and 33rrd minutes. But they allowed France to hit back to force a sudden-death extra time with goals by Willy Hoareau and Fabien Magner in the 59th and 62nd minutes respectively.

And Ahmad chalked up a hat-trick to give Malaysia victory in the 83rd minute.

Poland won the title, beating Austria 5-4 in the final.

For the Malaysians their goals in the match came from the penalty corner hits.

The team left for Germany yesterday and they are down to play three matches against their counterparts. After Germany, the team will head to Belgium.

The European tour is part of the team's preparations for the Junior Asia Cup, which will be held in India next month.

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