Defending champions India stayed on track to regain their hat-trick of men’s junior Asian Hockey Cup victories by beating Malaysia 3-1 to reach the continental final on Tuesday. Unbeaten so far in the tournament, India scored goals through Dilraj Singh (10th minute), Rohit (45th over) and Sharda Nand Tiwari (52nd over) to secure their place in the final. Malaysia’s only goal was scored from the penalty spot by Azimuddin Kamaruddin in the 57th minute. India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in a blockbuster final on Wednesday. Pakistan defeated Japan 4-2 in the first semi-final. India may have taken the lead in the first quarter, but the title holders performed poorly.
Malaysia were the early aggressors and had more chances, including two penalty corners which the Indians defended well.
In the third minute, Malaysia took the first penalty of the match, but the Indians defended well.
Three minutes later, Malaysia earned a second penalty corner, which was blocked by Indian goalkeeper Bikramjit Singh and then parried by Ankit Pal.
The Indians, however, took the lead in the 10th minute through Dilraj, who hit the board after a clever pass from Arajit Singh Hundal.
The Indians started the second quarter on a positive note and scored the first penalty in the 17th minute but were unable to break through the Malaysian defence.
The Indians were cagey again after this, with Malaysia taking two more penalties but unable to get past the Indian defence.
Three minutes after changing sides, the Indians launched an attack and came dangerously close to the goal, but the Malaysian goalkeeper brilliantly saved the shot.
In the 37th minute, the Malaysians took a penalty corner, but the shot hit the side crossbar.
India took their second penalty corner with 32 seconds left in the third quarter and Rohit stepped forward to score with a perfect shot to the left of the Malaysian goalkeeper.
India earned the third set piece in the 48th minute but missed the chance.
Minutes later, India had a number of penalty corners, the second of which was taken by Sharda Nand on a reverse kick after the Malaysian goalkeeper had saved the first shot.
The Malaysians fought to the end and in the 57th minute they took back-to-back penalty kicks, which ended in a penalty due to a foul by the Indian defender, and Kamaruddin made no mistake, reducing the difference.
But it was already too late for Malaysia.
Two minutes before the final whistle, India took their fifth penalty, but the shot went wide of the goal.
Topics mentioned in this article
Leave a comment