# Australia win first Sultan of Johor Cup after five attempts
# More joy as Kiran Arunasalam wins Man of the Match award
# Australia also take top scorer’s award through Tom Craig
# Debutants Japan win Fair Play award and Best Goalkeeper Award
By Rizal Abdullah
It was Australia’s night at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru on Sunday night as the Burras scored a number firsts as they won their first Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 Invitational tournament.
Apart from winning the final against Pakistan 3-1 the Burras also walked away with the Man of the Match when Kiran Arunasalam while Tom Craig took the Top Scoer’s award with six goals.
Japan, who finished third in their first Sultan of Johor Cup after defeating England 4-1 in penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in regulation time, also won two other awards – Fair Play and Best Goalkeeper (Keita Matsuda) in the six-nation tournament.
Australia’s previous best in the Sultan of Johor Cup was runners-up in the inaugural tournament in 2011. The following year Australia finished third and skipped the tournament in 2013 before making a return in 2014 (third place) and fifth last year.
Pakistan led 1-0 after six minutes through a penalty corner goal by Hassan Tazeem-Ul but Australia made it all square through Frazer Gerrard from a penalty corner on 13 minutes.
Rio Olympian Blake Govers then gave Australia the lead off a penalty stroke before completed his brace in the 67th minute from a penalty corner.
His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar the Sultan of Johor gave away the prizes to the champions.
