KUALA LUMPUR, 6 June 2005 — Olympic champions Australia defended Azlan Shah Cup field hockey crown through Craig Victory’s golden goal in a nerve-wrecking 4-3 triumph over South Korea here at the National Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Australia recovered in the final quarter of the match as they came back from 1-3 down to first level scores and then produced the winner in the second half of extra-time.
Korean goalie Dong Sik-ko, later adjudged as the man of the final, made it sure that the Australians won’t just walk away with the title with a series of superb saves, especially in the final minutes of the match.
But the goalie was finally beaten when Victory scored off an excellent assist from Grant Schubert to win the match for Australia.
Earlier Michael McCann, who scored two goals in the match, put Australia ahead in the 9th minute. But Korea struck twice in a couple of minutes to end first half with a 2-1 lead.
They made it 3-1 three minutes into the second half through a short corner strike by Jong Hyun-jang. Australia remain calm and composed and slowly regained control of the game. They made it 2-3 in the 54th minute and then McCann struck eight minutes before the hooter to make it 3-3. Australia went full throttle in extra-time, pressing for the golden goal and finally got it through Victory.
In the playoff for the third position, Pakistan were impressive against the spirited Kiwis in an enthralling encounter.
Prolific winger Rehan Butt scored twice in the match while the other goals came through youngster Mohammad Khalid and Mudassar Ali Khan. Pakistanis took a commanding 2-0 lead by the 19th minute but allowed New Zealand to make a comeback with a couple of strikes within a span of five minutes.
The Kiwis looked dangerous in the second half but Pakistan kept their cool, finally coming out with goals from experienced strikers Mudassar Ali and Rehan Butt to end their campaign in this seven-nation contest on a winning note. Rehan Butt snatched the ball from a Kiwi defender and sounded the board with a stinging carpet drive from the top of the circle to take Pakistan 1-0 ahead in the 10th minute.
National junior team midfielder Mohammad Khalid made it 2-0 with a reverse shot.
But Pakistan were unable to hold the lead as New Zealand fought their way back in the game with Dean Couzins’ converting a penalty stroke to make it 1-2 in the 21st minute.
Five minutes later, Richard Petherick scored off a short corner to level scores. The goal Pakistan were looking for came in the 62nd minute when Mudassar struck off a rebound.
Rehan Butt then dashed Kiwi hopes of a late recovery with a deflection off a short corner three minutes before the final whistle.
In other play yesterday, India gained a measure of revenge against Malaysia when they beat the hosts 2-1 in extra-time to finish fifth.
India were thrashed 4-1 by Malaysia during the round-robin stages of the competition last week but were given a chance to redeem themselves in the playoff for fifth and sixth place.
However, they needed a field goal from Prabhjot Singh seven minutes into extra-time for the victory after the two sides completed 70 minutes locked at 1-1.
Malaysia took an early lead when Hairul Nizam Abdul Rani scored with a field goal. India’s short corner specialist Len Aiyappa equalized for his country 17 minutes later from the set piece. Neither side were able to score in the second half and tempers frayed late in the game, resulting in red cards for Malaysia’s Jiwa Mohan and India’s Deepak Thakur.
