KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian hockey juniors took the match to Bangladesh from the first whistle, and there was never a doubt about victory at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Oman today (May 25).
Only the score remained to be known, and after 60 minutes, Malaysia beat Bangladesh 5-1 to claim their second win in Group B of the Junior Asia Cup.
Coach Amin Rahim's boys had routed Uzbekistan 8-1 in their curtain raiser, and will face South Korea on Saturday in a match which is likely to decide the top spot.
Malaysia will wrap up their fixtures against hosts Oman on Tuesday. For the record, Bangladesh had beaten Oman 2-0.
If Malaysia qualify for the semi-finals, all the other three teams in the last four will also qualify for the Kuala Lumpur Junior World Cup in December.
Malaysia put in three goals in 15 minutes through Shafiq Ikhmal Daniel (eighth), Shahmie Irfan Suhaimi (13th), and Syamim Naim Hamid (15th).
After the breather, Bangladesh pulled one back through Mohamed Abdulah in the 37th minute, but Malaysia were unstoppable as Shahmie claimed his penalty corner hat-trick with goals in the 43rd and 59th.