The Indian men’s hockey team led by Harmanpreet Singh came back from 1-3 down in 11 minutes to beat Malaysia 4-3 and claim a record fourth Asian Champions Trophy title in Chennai. Jugraj Singh’s free-kick effort gave India the lead in Saturday night’s summit clash at the Radhakrishnan Stadium in Malaysia, with Malaysia level at the end of the first quarter before scoring twice in the second.
CHENNAI (AP) Team India celebrates its third goal in the Asian Champions Cup hockey match between India and Malaysia.
India pulled one back with the captain’s effort from a free kick before Gurjant Singh equalized in the dying minutes of the third quarter. Akashdeep Singh then scored the winner with four minutes left on the clock to become India’s record player at home.
Malaysia reached the final with a tough brand of hockey for the hosts. But despite a slow start, they took an early lead in the ninth minute when Jugraj managed to turn a powerful shot to the right of the Malaysian goalkeeper.
Open allowed India to find their groove because they resorted to full press hockey, but came to test the Indian defense and broke the code in the 14th minute when Abu Kamal Azari was found in the back of the net with help from Azuan Hasan.
India missed back-to-back penalty corner opportunities in the opening quarter to take the lead.
Malaysia started the second quarter at a similar pace before conceding several corners. In the 18th minute, Razie Rahim’s shot deflected past Amit Rohidas to find the back of the net, his second, while Muhamad Aminudin put Malaysia ahead in the 28th minute.
At the end of the last quarter, India’s fortunes changed in just one minute. Skipper Harmanpreet scored from a free kick in the 45th minute and seconds after Gujrant found the back of the net to equalize with a field goal.
After that, India put pressure on the Malaysian defence, taking two back-to-back corners but missing their chances. In the end, it was Akashdeep Singh who scored the winner for the home team with his bat from the ‘D’ mound after taking the wicket of Mandeep Singh.
South Korea finished 3rd after defeating South Korea 5-3
Japan moved behind Malaysia in the Asian Champions Trophy after beating third-placed defending champions South Korea 5-3 in Chennai. Goals from Ryoma Ooka (3rd), Ryosei Kato (9th), Kentaro Fukuda (28th), Shota Adama (53rd) and Ken Nagayoshi (58th) helped them win twice. Jonghyun Jang (15th and 33rd) and Choleon Park (26th) scored the most goals for Korea.
