KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian women's hockey team showed great fighting spirit to carve out a remarkable 7-2 win over Zimbabwe to claim 11th place in the Junior World Cup (JWC) in Potchefstroom, South Africa. yesterday.
Despite being down twice, 0-1 and 1-2, coach Nasihin Nubli's team hit back through six different players for a happy ending.
Malaysia had a bad start when Tinodiwanashe Elijah struck in the second minute for Zimbabwe. However, Siti Nur Arfah Mohd Nor equalised in the 10th minute.
Alexi Terblanche gave the African side the lead again with a 15th minute goal but Malaysia dominated proceedings after this.
On target for Malaysia were Nur Insyirah Effarizal (22nd), Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli (23rd, 48th), Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar (39th), Dayang Nuramirah Abang Mahadini (41st) and Khairunissa Ayuni (53rd).
Nuramirah summed up Malaysia's World Cup debut in Potchefstroom as an invaluable experience.
"Making our debut and finishing 11th has taught us many good values which we will cherish forever," she said.
For Malaysia, their performance in the JWC was certainly something to be proud of, as initially, they were not part of the script. Nasihin's team were only invited to take part after Japan pulled out due to Covid issues.