Kazakhstan and Malaysia 'A' on road to final

Kazakhstan chalked up their third consecutive victory in the tournament by whipping Iran 8-1 while Malaysia 'A' boosted their hopes of making the final with a 5-0 demolition of Thailand.

In their two previous matches, Kazakhstan had beaten Thailand 7-0 and Malaysia 'B' 6-2 while Malaysia 'A' who could only manage a 3-3 draw against Iran, fared better against the Thais today after having whipped Uzbekistan 8-2 yesterday.

Malaysian skipper Nor Saliza Ahmad Soobni who had scored six goals in yesterday's 8-2 win, was again in superb form to accomplish a hat-trick today with strikes in the 6th, 13th and 39th minutes.

Nurul Nabila Burhanuddin who was also on target yesterday, added a brace in the 21st and 28th minutes to complete the rout.

However, unlike their counterparts, Malaysia 'B' lost 2-5 to Uzbekistan in another match and look unlikely to make the semi-final, let alone the final.

A hat-trick by Liliya Mutalapova in the 5th, 28th and 39th minutes and two goals by Kristina Sereda in the 18th and 34th minutes sealed the victory for the Uzbeks while goals for Malaysia 'B' came through Mashitah Mohd Nasir's double strikes in the 24th and 30th minutes.

Tomorrow, Malaysia 'A' face Malaysia 'B' at 8.30am and Uzbekistan take on Kazakhstan in another match at 10am while Thailand meet Iran at 11.30am,  Kazinform refers to Bernama.

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