Hockey Asia Cup: Malaysia lose to South Korea in final

Malaysia's wait for a gold medal at the Men's Hockey Asia Cup was extended after falling short against South Korea in the final on Wednesday.

Arul Selvaraj's men, who had faced the Koreans twice earlier in the competition, winning 5-4 and drawing 2-2, couldn't avoid a 2-1 defeat in their third meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Hwang Taeil delivered the killing blow in the 52nd minute after Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan cancelled out Jung Manjae's opener.

Good effort ... Malaysia put up a credible performance in the final before having to settle for the runners-up spot in this year’s Asia Cup#MalaysiaHockeyConfederation #MalaysianTigers #MalaysianHockey #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/PYOoDFuoc6

— MHC (@hockeymalaysia) June 1, 2022

The victory was South Korea's fifth time emerging victorious at the Men's Hockey Asia Cup, while the Speedy Tigers, who secured qualification to the 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup, repeated their best performance of finishing as runners-up in 2017.

Meanwhile, India beat Japan 1-0 to claim a bronze medal and Pakistan thrashed Bangladesh 8-0 to finish fifth.

Host nation Indonesia finished last after losing 2-0 to Oman on Tuesday.

Bangun Malaysia! Tiada apa yang perlu dimalukan. Bangun semua, naib juara Piala Asia 2022 @ASTROARENA pic.twitter.com/wfNyMxDB32

— Bazly.azmi (@bazlyazmi) June 1, 2022