KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — Malaysia advanced to the finals of the FIH Men’s Series Finals after defeating Austria 3-1 in an intense semifinal match at the National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil, tonight.

With the win, Malaysia, the world No. 13, also confirmed their berth in the last stage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Qualifier together with the finalist, Canada.

Malaysia took the lead in the 11th minute through Faizal Saari’s penalty corner flick, just seconds after Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal’s shot struck the goal post.

As Malaysia were down to 10 men after Nik Muhammad Aiman Nik Rozemi was sent to sin bin for a green card in the 31st minute, the world number 19 Austria took their chances well to net the equaliser through Leon Thornblom a minute later.

The scoreline remained till the end of the third quarter as the Malaysian Tigers failed to capitalise on a number of chances against the defensive Austrians.

The wait was finally over when Muhammad Marhan Jalil scored from a penalty corner deflection in the 55th minute, before Meor Muhammad Azuan Hassan’s field goal three minutes later sent the Austrians packing. — Bernama