A Malaysian hockey player (left) takes control of the ball during the Under-18 Asia Cup final, held in Yangon on November 22. Pakistan defeated Malaysia 4-3 to claim the title and a spot at next year’s Youth Olympics in Singapore.

PAKISTAN last week claimed the 2nd Boys Under-18 Asia Cup hockey tournament with a 4-3 win over Malaysia at Yangon’s Thein Pyu Hockey Ground.

Pakistan went through the competition undefeated but had some close shaves, including 4-3 victories over India and Malaysia in the group stages. Other matches brought an 11-0 win over Sri Lanka and a 4-0 semi final victory over Japan.

They now earn the right to represent Asia at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Singapore.

Malaysia began brightly in the November 22 final, scoring the opening goal early in the first half. But as the match wore on Pakistan’s skill and size came to the fore, and they managed to probe cracks in the Malaysian defence to good effect.

“Today we were very lucky. But my boys still played an excellent game and followed my strategy well. In the first half, we responded well to lead Malaysia 3-1 at half time and in the second half we added another goal. I believe we are worthy champions,” Pakistan head coach, Mr Khawaja Muhammed Junaid, told The Myanmar Times after the final.

Mr Khawaja said Malaysia was the toughest opponent his side faced throughout the tournament.

“In this tournament, Malaysia is the other side that could have been the champion. Their players’ individual skills are actually better than my side,” he said.

But he added that his team had several special qualities and was particularly strong at defending penalty corners.

Before the final, South Korea wrapped up third spot with a 4-1 win over Japan.

Hosts Myanmar, in pool B, struggled against their more experienced opposition, losing to Japan (5-1), South Korea (5-0), Chinese-Taipei (4-0) and Singapore (4-0) in the group stages. In the cross pool matches, Myanmar lost to the bottom side in Group A, Sri Lanka, by three goals to one.

Nevertheless, coach Mr Shaiful Azil Bin was upbeat about Myanmar’s future prospects.

“I am happy with our skills and technique but the Myanmar players are so young and they don’t have international exposure. That is the main reason why we couldn’t reach the semi finals,” he said. “But they gained a great deal of experience, both from playing and watching the best teams from across Asia competed.”

Myanmar finished ninth overall, behind India (fifth), Singapore (sixth), Sri Lanka (seventh) and Chinese Taipei (eighth).

Pakistan’s Tooseeq Muhammad was adjudged the player of the tournament, while Malaysia’s Muhammad Sabri got the man-of-the-match award in the final.

Pang Chain Samudra from Singapore was the best goalkeeper, Jihun Yang from South Korea the top goalscorer and Myanmar took home the fair play title.