Malaysia

Goalkeeper M Tussubzhanova made some breathtaking saves as Kazakhstan defeated Malaysia 3-1 in tie-breaker to finish fifth in the 5th Women's Asia Cup hockey tournament in New Delhi on Saturday.

Tussubzhanova, who thwarted atleast a dozen Malaysian attempts during regulation time, came up with two brilliant saves in the tie-breaker as the Kazakhs finished their campaign on a winning note.

In the match for the seventh and eighth position, Singapore twice rallied from behind to beat Sri Lanka 3-2.

Malaysia and Kazakhstan were locked 1-1 after 70 minutes of play and the deadlock could not be broken even after 15 minutes of extra time forcing the game into the tie-breaker.

It was Malaysia who had early domination and their efforts got them the lead when skipper Nor Saliza deflected a free hit from Ayu Afnida into the goal in the 17th minute.

The Malaysians seemed to be cruising and continued to put pressure on the Kazakhstan defence but Tussubzhanova stood tall blocking all the attempts.

With just five minutes to go, Kazakh skipper T Marchenko made a probing run from the left and dribbled past three defenders to enter the striking circle. She then found Galiya Baissarind who made no mistake with her reverse flick to restore parity.

In the tie breaker, Malaysia failed to convert any of its four strokes while Nadezhda Sumkina and A Mutallyapova scored for Kazakhstan.

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