KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian men's hockey team saved themselves from more scolding by irate fans with a hard fought 5-4 win over Japan in the Asian Champions League (ACT) today in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, today.
It was a redemptive performance by coach Sarjit Singh and his men after the 8-1 humiliation by India days earlier.
It was also Malaysia's first win in the ACT after they drew 2-2 with Pakistan and lost 4-2 to lowly China earlier.
With the win, Malaysia also kept alive their hopes of finishing in the top four to qualify for the semi-finals.
World No. 13 Malaysia have four points from one win, one draw and two defeats in the six-team round robin tournament.
Malaysia will need to beat South Korea on Saturday in their final fixture.
For the first time in four matches, Malaysia took the lead off their first penalty corner, converted by Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan in the ninth minute.
The goal boosted the national players, and they continued to pile on the pressure to look for more goals.
Malaysia were awarded a penalty stroke in the 17th minute, but Fitri Saari's low flick was saved by goalkeeper Takumi Kitagawa.
Malaysia, however, increased their lead through Norsyafiq Sumantri from close range in the 21st minute.
But then the Malaysian defence, led by captain Marhan Jalil, crumbled and gave away two penalty corners which resulted in converted goals by Ken Nagayoshi in the 24th and 28th minutes respectively.
And Japan took the lead in the 36th minute through Tsubasa Tanaka before Malaysia fought back to score three goals to take a 5-3 lead.
Syed Syafiq was on target in the 40th minute before Syarman Mat Tee (47th) and Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (48th) scored.
Japan narrowed the deficit with a goal by Kazumasa Matsumoto in the 51st minute.
Sarjit said it was a good win, but they paid a price with injuries to a few players in the match.
"My players deserve to win as they, overall, played well but they made some mistakes in the match.
"Scoring five goals in an international tournament is good, but if the players take their chances well, they can score more goals.
"We have one day to rest before we take on South Korea. The players need a good rest and the coaches need to come up with a good strategy as a win over them will confirm our place in the semi-finals," said Sarjit.