Malaysia v Pakistan, 2016 Asian Hockey Champions Trophy semi-final: Where to watch live and preview

Malaysia will take confidence from their group stage victory against the defending champions.

Malaysian hockey team
File photo of Malaysia Men's hockey team Reuters

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Match: Malaysia v Pakistan, semi-final

Date: 29 October, Saturday

Time: 8:30pm SGT/6pm IST/1:30pm BST

Competition: Asian Hockey Champions Trophy 2016

Venue: Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium

TV Channel: In Singapore, the live TV coverage of the semi-final clash between Malaysia and Pakistan will be on Fox Sports 2.

Live Streaming: Hotstar

Overview

Malaysia host Pakistan in the second semi-final of 2016 Asian Hockey Champions Trophy at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium in the Kuantan District on 29 October.

Malaysia, who have finished third in all all the previous editions, are looking primed to better their record at home this year. The 14th-ranked side have been able to seal the second spot in the group standings behind leaders India.

The hosts began their campaign on a high by stunning defending champions Pakistan 4-2 in the opener on 20 October. After opening the scoring, Malaysia conceded twice to trail Pakistan 1-2 in the opening minutes of the second half.

However, Faizal Saari stepped up and scored twice on either sides of Shahril Saabah's goal to give their fans a lot to rejoice on the opening day of the tournament. Malaysia never looked back and continued dominating their lower-ranked opponents before losing 1-2 to India in their penultimate round-robin group stage match.

However, backed by a spirited show from their backline, Malaysia were able to hold South Korea to a 1-1 draw to set up a rematch with Pakistan on Saturday.

On the other hand, Pakistan for the first time in their four appearances at the Asian Champions Trophy have slipped out of the top two spots in the group stages.

The Asian giants have also struggled to score freely so far and have conceded 10 goals, which is the highest number among the four semi-finalists. They even scrapped to wins with one-goal margins against lower-ranked South Korea and Japan in the group stages.

Pakistan's defensive weakness, that has been exposed in the group stages, might just work against them on the big night.

It will be important for Malaysia to get past the Pakistani hurdle on Saturday as the hosts, who will have the backing of home support, will want to make the best use of the home conditions and go the distance in the ongoing edition of the tournament.

TV Schedule

India: Star Sports 4

Malaysia: Fox Sports

Singapore: Fox Sports 2

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