20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men’s International Hockey Tournament 2011

After days of tropical thunderstorms, the skies finally cleared for the first day of the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men’s International Tournament 2011 which kicked off today at Stadium Azlan Shah (hockey stadium) in Ipoh, Perak.

This is the 20th edition of the tournament since its inception in 1983 and this year we have teams from seven nations participating, namely Australia, Great Britain, South Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan, India and of course, Malaysia, the host. As you can see, these are the world’s top ten teams in men’s field hockey, except for Malaysia, which currently ranks at world number 15.

Oddly, I have never even watched a single live hockey match prior to tonight’s game between Malaysia and Great Britain, which is the third match of the tournament.

Naturally, I have no idea about hockey rules and game play. Yet, it was a pretty interesting match for me. Even though I was impartial, it was kind of frustrating that at some points, Malaysia was too defensive and dragged time and was not able to seize the few opportunities to score. At the end of the match, Malaysia lost to Great Britain 1-3.

Event: 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men’s International Hockey Tournament 2011
Venue: Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium, Ipoh, Perak
GPS Coordinates: N 04 36.462′ E 101 6.023′

Date: 5th – 15h May, 2011
Website: http://www.azlanshahcup.com

Match schedule:

5th May 2011
01. 1605 New Zealand (2) – Pakistan (4)
02. 1805 South Korea (3) – India (2)
03. 2005 Great Britain (3) – Malaysia (1)

6th May 2011
04. 1605 South Korea (2) – Pakistan (4)
05. 1805 Great Britain (1) – India (3)
06. 2005 Australia (2) – Malaysia (1)

8th May 2011
07. 1605 Australia (1) – India (1)
08. 1805 Great Britain (3) – Pakistan (2)
09. 2005 South Korea (1) – New Zealand (1)

9th May 2011
10. 1605 Australia (5) – Pakistan (1)
11. 1805 Great Britain (3) – New Zealand (1)
12. 2005 India (5) – Malaysia (2)

11th May 2011
13. 1605 New Zealand (3) – Malaysia (2)
14. 1805 Australia (4) – South Korea (2)
15. 2005 Pakistan (3) – India (1)

12th May 2011
16. 1605 Australia (2) – Great Britain (1)
17. 1805 New Zealand (7) – India (3)
18. 2005 South Korea (1) – Malaysia (3)

14th May 2011
19. 1605 Great Britain (1) – South Korea (3)
20. 1805 Pakistan (3) – Malaysia (2)
21. 2005 Australia (4) – New Zealand (2)

15th May 2011
22. 1535 5th & 6th Placing – India (1) – South Korea (2)
23. 1805 3rd & 4th Placing – Great Britain (4) – New Zealand (2)
24. 2035 1st & 2nd Placing – Australia (3) – Pakistan (2)

Admission is free.

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