KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia A rose to the occasion to beat Australian All Stars for bronze in the Mirnawan Cup at the Ministry of Education Stadium today.
Malaysia A took a 2-1 lead before Australia equalised in the 59th minute to take the match to a shootout.
Sufian Zainal's boys then made it count in the shootout, winning 4-3.
For the record, in the pool match, Malaysia A beat Australia All Stars 2-1.
Joshua Robson gave Australia a 27th-minute lead before Harity Afib equalised in the 29th minute while Shafiq Ammar snatched the lead for Malaysia with a 34th-minute field goal.
Australia's Hale Cody took the match to a shootout with a 59th-minute goal, but in the end, Malaysia A won a deserving bronze.
"It is a proud moment for this batch of NHDP (National Hockey Development Programme) players as they beat Australia All Stars twice.
"Their only blemish was a 7-0 defeat to South Africa.
"But in the bronze match, my boys showed great determination to come back from a goal down and then beat Australia," said Sufian.
For the record, Malaysia paraded only two 17-year-olds, while 16 were 16-year-olds in the Under-17 Mirnawan Cup.
Results
Boys' final: Odisha 4 South Africa 3;
Third-Fourth: Malaysia A 2 Australia 2 (Malaysia win 4-3 on shootout).
Girls -- Final: Australia 2 Japan 0, Third-Fourth: Odisha 2 South Africa 0,
Fifth-Sixth: Malaysia A 5 Malaysia B 1.