KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will face Asian champions South Korea in the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh on Thursday.
The Speedy Tigers reached the final following an inspiring 4-2 win over Japan at the Azlan Shah Stadium today.
Malaysia only needed a draw to play in the final but a solid first quarter saw them scoring two early goals against Japan through penalty corner specialist Razie Rahim in the eighth and ninth minutes.
However, Malaysia became complacent in the second quarter, which allowed Kaito Tanaka to reduce the deficit in the 23rd minute via penalty corner.
Nik Aiman Rozemi regained Malaysia's two-goal advantage with a strike in the 31st minute, only for Japan to score again through Shota Yamada in the 35th minute.
Goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman then saved a penalty stroke late in the third quarter to maintain Malaysia's slim lead.
Norsyafiq Sumantri's sly touch in the 46th minute made it 4-2 for Malaysia.
National coach Arul Selvaraj said: "The job is not done yet.
"We won three matches in three days, and now we are in the final against Korea.
"We must avoid giving away penalty corners when we play Korea."
For the record, Malaysia have never won the title.
In the round-robin match, Korea defeated Malaysia 3-0.
Malaysia finished second in the round robin with 10 points with Korea at the top of the standings with 13 points.
Korea recorded their fourth win by edging South Africa 2-1 in an earlier match.
Both the Korean goals were scored by Jeon Byungjin (26th, 32nd), while Bradley Sherwood was on target for South Africa.
Japan finished third on seven points, followed by Pakistan (five points), Egypt (fourth) and South Africa (three).
RESULTS
South Korea 2 South Africa 1, Egypt 1 Pakistan 4, Malaysia 4 Japan 2.
FIXTURES
TOMORROW
Fifth-Sixth: Egypt v South Africa (6pm); Third-Fourth: Japan v Pakistan (8pm).
THURSDAY
Final: Malaysia v South Korea (8pm).
* All matches at Azlan Shah Stadium