CHENNAI: At the beginning of the Asian Champions Trophy here, Malaysia and Korea were separated by just one spot in the FIH rankings - World No. 10 against World No. 9. After Malaysia finished second on the continental tournament's table at the conclusion of the round-robin stage, they exchanged places in the rankings.
The first quarter of the semifinal on Friday perfectly reflected how evenly matched the teams were. When the sides were locked at 2-2 at the end of 15 minutes, those in attendance at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium expected the contest to go down to the wire. But Malaysia, who have been getting better with each passing match, stamped their authority in the last three quarters to emerge comfortable 6-2 winners.
