KUALA LUMPUR – Pahang fought back from being 2-0 down to edge four-time champions Melaka 4-3 on penalty shootout and make the men’s final of the 2021 Tun Abdul Razak Cup tonight.
It was a day of double joy for Pahang as their women’s team, who are the defending champions, had earlier checked into the final with a 1-0 win over Penang.
In the men’s semi-final match, which was played in heavy rain at pitch 1 of the National Hockey Stadium, Melaka shot ahead after just four minutes when Amirrullah Zainol scored off a penalty corner set piece and Mohamad Faid Farhadh Mohamad Shah then doubled their lead with a 24th-minute penalty stroke goal.
Undaunted, Pahang hit back with two quick goals after the break. They narrowed the deficit through Tengku Nasrul Ikmal Tengku Abd Rahim’s 37th-minute field goal before Muhammad Idris Samad levelled the score with a penalty corner goal a minute later.
With neither team able to break the deadlock, the game had to be decided on penalty shootout and it was Pahang who managed to hold their nerves and seal a fourth final appearance in the tournament, having finished runners-up in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
“When our women’s team qualified for the final (earlier), it gave the men’s team a huge lift. But when we were trailing 0-2, I told my players to just go out there and play their hearts out.
“My players never gave up hope and, with their superior fitness level, they did just that. Now, we must forget our past defeats (in the finals). This time, with a new team and new-found spirit, we hope to have better luck tomorrow (in the final),” coach Mohd Sufian Mohamed told Bernama.
It won’t be easy for Pahang though as waiting for them in the title showdown will be defending champions Perak, who defeated Terengganu 2-0 in a rematch of last year’s final.
Perak, who are eyeing their 11th title, went 1-0 up after just seven minutes through a Mohamad Izad Hakimi Jamaluddin penalty corner goal before Arif Sabri added the second with a brilliant field goal in the 46th minute.
Perak coach Abdul Sukur Adam, while pleased with his players’ performance in sticking with the game plan, was critical of their poor finishing.
Earlier in the women’s category, reigning champions Pahang edged Penang 1-0, thanks to Nuriza Sulaiman’s ninth-minute field goal.
The two-time champions will face Kuala Lumpur in tomorrow’s final after the City side also bagged a 1-0 win over Melaka in dramatic fashion, with Nur Zafirah Aziz netting the winner in the dying seconds.
