KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 – Malaysia had to be satisfied with runners up in the inaugural Hockey5s World Cup 2024 after losing 2-5 to the Netherlands in the finals at Hockey Oman Venue Wednesday night (early Thursday morning Malaysian time).
The Netherlands immediately went on the offensive from the get-go, scoring in the first minute through Van Der Drift Yannick but Malaysia quickly equalised through a field goal by Mohamad Akhimullah Anuar Esook less than 45 seconds later.
The European champions managed to blaze ahead, slotting two goals in through Reyenga Pepijn’s field goal in the 6th minute and then Drift Yannick’s strike in the 13th minute, putting the Netherlands in a commanding 3-1 lead.
Muhammad Firdaus Omar managed to close the gap in the 16th minute, only to see the Dutch extend their lead with another to goals by Sander de Wijn (26th minute) and Jamie van Aart (28th minute) for an insurmountable lead that crowned them as inaugural Hockey5s World Cup champions.
Malaysia had qualified for the finals after beating Poland 4-3 in the semis, while the Netherlands beat hosts Oman 5-3.
Oman took the bronze after beating Poland 3-2 in the third-fourth place classification match.
