KUALA LUMPUR: No gold, no Paris Olympic ticket for Malaysia at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The national men's hockey team were denied a semi-final spot in Hangzhou following a 4-4 draw against China in a Group B match today.
Malaysia ended up third with 10 points, finishing behind group champions China and runners-up South Korea.
In the semi-finals, Group A champions India will play South Korea and China will take on Japan.
Speedy Tigers had a slow start and were punished by China off their first penalty corner by Gao Jiesheng in the 13th minute.
Malaysia were lost and made many mistakes, but a penalty corner rebound by Azrai Aizad Kamal in the 18th minute gave them a lifeline at 1-1.
However, China regained their lead in the 20th minute through Chen Qijun.
A. Arul Selvaraj's side pressed forward and made it 2-2 through Ashran Hamsani's attempt in the 25th minute.
Amirul Hamizan Azahar scored for Malaysia in the 35th minute, but the lead stood for only a minute.
Pan Dongquan equalised from a penalty corner set piece.
Faiz Jali made it 4-3 in the 40th minute with a penalty corner drive, but Zhu Weijiang equalised off a penalty stroke three minutes later.
Malaysia pressed forward in the final 15 minutes of the match but could not find the winner.