Malaysian beaten in penalty shootout, Indians win 
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| Asia |
June 9, 2001 
The Star of Malaysia
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By Peter Chan
IPOH: Unheralded Uzbekistan stormed into the final of the Boys' AHF Cup Under-18 hockey tournament when they beat hosts Malaysia 4-2 in a penalty shootout at the Azlan Shah Stadium here last night.
Malaysia and Uzbekistan were tied 2-2 after 70 minutes and extra time failed to break the deadlock, forcing the match into a penalty shootout.
Uzbekistan will play favourites India in tomorrow's final. The Indians humiliated South Korea 7-1 in the other semi-final.
Malaysia had only themselves to blame for the defeat. They earned 14 penalty corners but only managed to convert one.
They were also let down by their inaccurate passes, especially in the first half.
The Uzbeks, who only arrived at the stadium just half an hour before the start of the match, were quick to settle down. They troubled the Malaysians with their speed and it came as no surprise that they took a 1-0 lead after only five minutes with Eldorbek Kosimov getting the better of goalkeeper Mohd Firdaus Razali.
The Malaysians then angered the home crowd when they collected five successive penalty corners in a 10-minute spell but failed to convert them.
They paid dearly for the misses as in the 32nd minute the Uzbeks increased the lead to 2-0 through a penalty corner conversion by Ilhomjon Usmanov.
The Malaysians came charging back after the breather. They sounded the board in their 10th penalty corner through skipper Jivan Mohan to reduce the deficit to 1-2.
The Malaysians continued to press forward and managed to find the equaliser in the 57th minute when Mohd Fairuz Hamsani pounced on a loose ball to fire home.
During the extra time, the Malaysians had more chances to score compared to the Uzbeks. In the 81st minute, they earned a penalty corner but Jivan's flick hit the right upright.
In the other semi-final, India took only nine minutes to stamp their superiority with S. Raju firing home from a penalty corner.
Two quick goals in the 18th and 19th minutes by skipper Jugraj Singh and K.P. Dinesh gave the Indians a 3-0 half-time lead.
South Korea narrowed the gap in the 38th minute when Shin Yong-cheol scored.
But the Indians regrouped to score another four more goals through substitute Imtiaz Ahmad (55th and 61st minutes, Raju (57th) and Rajpal Singh (66th).
RESULTS
Semi-finals: India 7 S. Korea 1, Malaysia 2 Uzbekistan 2 (after full time and extra time; Uzbekistan win 4-2 in penalty shootout).
Classification matches
Fifth to eighth placing playoffs: Oman 0 Bangladesh 5, Singapore 0 Japan 7.
Ninth and 10th placing playoffs: Taiwan 10 Brunei 0.
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