Canada will face tournament host Malaysia Sunday morning in the fifth place match at the 2015 Azlan Shah Cup.
The two teams played Saturday morning in the final round robin match and the host team came out on top 4-1. Canada’s lone goal was scored by Vancouver’s Matthew Sarmento.
Canada and Malaysia have seen a lot of each other over the last year, dating back to last year’s edition of the Azlan Shah Cup, when Malaysia beat Canada 3-1 in the round robin.
A month later the two teams met again at the Champions Challenge in Kuantan, Malaysia and played twice.
First, in the round robin, Malaysia edged the Canadian 4-3. They met again with higher stakes in the tournament semi-final. It was an even match, with Malaysia getting out to a 2-0 lead before two goals from Canadian captain Scott Tupper tied the match.
The match needed a shootout to determine the victor. In the end, it was Adam Froese who scored in sudden death shots to give Canada the victory, the spot in the final, and its best finish ever at the Champions Challenge.
In the summer of 2014, Canada and Malaysia met for a final time last year at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Malaysia was able to exact some revenge winning 2-0.
Both teams are headed to the World League Semi-Finals this summer, but have qualified in separate events. The next time they could face each other, after Sunday’s Azlan Shah Cup fifth place match, would be the World League Finals if both were to qualify.
Sunday’s match gets going at 12:40am PT/3:40am ET.
