IPOH (Malaysia), May 8: Hosts Malaysia secured the first semi-finals berth at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Tuesday with their first victory over South Korea in a decade, in a Group B match here.

The Malaysians beat the Koreans 1-0 in a cautious game where both teams relied on counter-attacks for their chances at goal.

Both sides had their chances in each half. Two clear chances for Malaysia in the 20th and 61st minutes were wasted by skipper Chua Boon Huat.

The South Koreans forced three penalty corners in the 70th minute, but they were unable to get the better of the Malaysian defence.

In the end it was a goal from Malaysia’s Ismail Abu, who capitalised on a defensive error in the 60th minute, which was enough to bring the Malaysians home.

The other semi-final berth from the group will be decided when Pakistan and South Korea resume their postponed match on Wednesday. That match was tied at 2-2 when a blackout at the stadium forced the game to be abandoned on Monday night.

The Pakistanis need just a draw, while the Koreans will be looking for an outright win to progress.

The semi-final teams from Group A will also be known on Wednesday, when the last group matches are held.

In an earlier match on Tuesday, the Pakistanis staged a convincing 2-0 victory over Canada.

Pakistan opened their scoring with a field goal from Shabbir Khan, whose deflection in the seventh minute had Canadian goalkeeper Michael Mahood well beaten.

The Pakistanis were then kept at bay until towards the end of the first half, when they increased their lead after a good piece of individual skill from Akhtar Ali who collected the ball at the 25-yard line and dribbled his way past three South Korean defenders into the D in the 32nd minute and let fly with a hefty shot to take Pakistan 2-0 up at the half time.

The second half saw the Canadians playing a tighter game and they managed to break up the Pakistan attacks early with some timely interceptions.

Mahood also played a grand game to stop goal scoring chances, and in the end the Pakistanis had to content with a two-goal win.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s coach Islahuddin Siddiqui said his team missed with several sitters and should have won by a bigger margin.

“They played a good game but those misses could be costly. The main thing is that we are very much in the semi-final hunt and that makes it an important win,” he said.

Canadian coach Louis Mendonca lamented his team's poor performance in the first half for their defeat.

The Pakistanis will now resume their abandoned game against South Korea at 4.30pm on Wednesday. The match will be continued from the time it was stopped on Monday, at the 27th minute.

Results:

Pakistan 2.......................Canada 0

South Korea 0..............Malaysia 1

—AFP