Malaysia were forced to settle for fourth place at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2025 after falling 6–1 to New Zealand in the third-place playoff at Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium, Ipoh.
Coming into the match with three straight defeats, Sarjit Singh’s men were determined to end their campaign on a positive note.
But standing in their way were the familiar foes who held them to a 2–2 draw in the tournament opener — The Black Sticks.
Sarjit continued to rely on Faizal Saari as his main attacking weapon.
Across the field, New Zealand coach Greg Nicol deployed Sam Lane to spearhead the Black Sticks’ attack.
Malaysia’s hopes suffered an early blow when Sam Lane punished two defensive lapses, scoring twice in the space of two minutes.
The Speedy Tigers’ troubles deepened when defender Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan was forced off injured in the 7th minute.
New Zealand extended their lead through James Hickson in the 29th minute.
Hickson sliced through the Malaysian backline with a solo run before beating goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman — a classy finish for 3–0.
The Black Sticks returned from the break with even greater aggression. Lane completed his hat-trick via a penalty corner in the 33rd minute.
Just a minute later, he struck again from another penalty corner to make it 5–0.
Sarjit reacted by replacing Hafizuddin with Rafaizul Saini, hoping to stabilise the defence.
But Lane was not done. In the 41st minute, he buried a penalty stroke — his fifth goal — stretching the lead to 6–0.
Two minutes later, Malaysia finally pulled one back.
Faizal Saari converted a penalty stroke past George Enersen to reduce the deficit to 6–1.
Malaysia pushed hard to narrow the gap further, but the Black Sticks defended well to keep the final scoreline intact.
Credit Photo : Hokita
