KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s hopes of a place in the women’s hockey competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics evaporated in Spain, after the Malaysian Tigress suffered a third consecutive defeat in their Group B Olympic Qualifier against Great Britain.
In the match played at Estadio Beterodi, Valencia, Spain, the Malaysian Tigress lost 1-8 to Great Britain today, after having lost to Spain 0-7 and Canada 0-3 in their two previous Group B matches.
Host country Spain took top spot in the group with nine points while Great Britain clinched second place with six points, followed by Canada with three points while Malaysia failed to win any points.
In fact the 0-3 loss to Canada on Sunday had already resulted in a no go to Paris for coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim’s charges and today’s results had no bearing on the outcome for Paris.
In the match today, Great Britain scored through Hannah French (17’ and 59’), Isabelle Petter (19’), Tessa Howard (24’ and 30’), Giselle Ansley (27’ and 43’) and Sarah Jones (29th minute while Malaysia’s only goal of the match or rather the only goal throughout the group matches was scored by Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar in the 56th minute.
The squad will however, feature in the classification match for 5th to 8th places on Saturday.
The Olympic Qualifiers in Valencia is the final avenue for teams to earn a ticket to the Paris Olympics and the top three teams from Valencia will be assured of a ticket to Paris.–Bernama