KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia lost 2-1 to Japan today but still advanced to the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) semi-finals at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
It was Malaysia’s second defeat and they finished third in the six-nation tournament with nine points.
Japan, who are second in the standings with 10 points, will face Malaysia, coached by South African Brendon Carolan, again in the semi-final on Wednesday.
Defending champions India, who topped the standings, will face fourth place South Korea in the other semi-final.
Japan had the chance to take the lead in the eighth minute but Jun Watanabe failed to convert the penalty stroke.
Two minutes later forward Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal gave Malaysia the lead from close range.
However, Japan levelled the scores through Kentaro Fukuda in the 24th minute and he also scored the winner in the 54th.
In an earlier match, Bangladesh earned their first point after holding China to a 1-1 draw.