DHAKA, Bangladesh: Malaysia outclased South Korea in fitness for a 2-1 win in an Asia Cup Group B match to qualify for the round robin stage with a match in hand against Oman.
Taking a 2-0 lead, Malaysia were ruthless in the last quarter to deny a fighting Korea an equaliser.
On Monday, Malaysia will play Oman while South Korea will meet China in the final Group B matches.
Chief coach Stephen van Huizen said: "It is nice to qualify for the second round with a match in hand. But its even sweeter to beat Korea for the second time this season."
Malaysia had beaten the Koreans 1-0 in the London World League en route to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Malaysia produced a classy performance to deny the defending champions from attaining at least a draw.
"While celebrating this victory, we must also not forget that the tournament actually starts in the round robin and we need to play just as well or even better to qualify for the final."
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the round robin where they play three more matches each. The top two teams will then play for the title.
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin gave Malaysia the needed break, when he deftly dribbled into the semicircle and won his team a penalty corner for Faizal Shaari to nail the opening goal in the 17th minute.
Faizal again played a pivotal role when Malaysia won their third penalty corner.
This time he pushed to the centre for a set-piece and even though the ball was stopped by goalkeeper Hong Doopyo, Azri Hassan tucked in the rebound in the 19th minute.
However, Korea came back into the match in the 27th minute when Lee Seunghoon scored a field goal from close range.
And Malaysia kept their cool in the remaining minutes, even though the Koreans came at them with all they had.
With 26 seconds left in the match, the Koreans were ready for a punch-up, and when nerves calmed down, they tried to equalise but the day belonged to Malaysia.