Defending champions Malaysia downed Indonesia 4-2 to set up a showdown against Thailand for the gold medal in the women’s indoor hockey final tomorrow.
For the Malaysians, it was a great comeback after losing to the fast-improving Indonesian side coached by K. Dharmaraj in the semi-finals of the 2022 Asia Cup in Bangkok.
Iren Hussin notched a hat-trick in this last round-robin format competition match with strikes in the sixth, 11th and 27th minutes at Dinosaur Park Hill while Nur Atira Ismail scored one in the 15th minute.
Indonesia replied through Desi Wardani (ninth) and Nuraini Sugiarti (20th). Earlier on Wednesday, Thailand and Malaysia drew 0-0. The top two teams in the table standings advance to the final.
National coach Badrul Hisham Osman praised his players for the strong fightback against Indonesia with some exceptional performance.
“In the last quarter, Indonesia pressured our defence and earned a few penalty corners, but we did well to stop them from scoring,” said Badrul.
