KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia overpowered South American champions Chile 2-1 in Group A of the Junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar today for a big boost to their campaign.
The national players could have scored five goals easily, but an overconfident Akhimullah Anuar Esook muffed two reverse stick shots with his fancy goal attempts.
Chile were taken by surprise when Malaysia used two well drilled penalty corner set pieces to score in the 34th and 43rd minutes through Kamarulzaman Kamaruddin and Syarman Mat Tee.
Chile's late goal was scored by Sebastián Wolansky in the 59th minute.
The International Hockey Federation's Man of the Match award went to Amirul Azahar.
"We have done our part to win the first game, and it was a team effort which won the day.
"Now, we must watch the Belgium (vs South Africa) match on our rest day and prepare to face the Lucknow Junior World Cup silver medallists," said Amirul Azahar.
Coach Wallace Tan's boys lived dangerously for the first 30 minutes, as jittery legs made their task of beating Chile much more difficult.
Chile had four penalty corners in the first two quarters, and the last back-to-back two in the final minute was nerve-wracking but goalkeeper Shahrul Azmi was at his best.
The two penalty corners that came Malaysia's way were also wasted.
After the break, Malaysia were in control of the match, but they have to stop wasting open chances because not many will come their way against Belgium next.
In the other Group A match, 2016 Junior World Cup silver medallists Belgium set the tone with a blistering 5-1 win over South Africa.
Roman Duvekot was awarded the Player of the Match for his brace, which made the difference in their game.
Malaysia next meet Belgium on Friday, and it could be the turning point in their tournament — of either ending up among the top eight, or the bottom eight of the World Cup.
RESULTS:
Group A
Belgium 5 South Africa 1, Malaysia 2 Chile 1
Group B
Canada 0 Poland 1
Group D
Germany 5 Pakistan 2