Captain Harmanpreet Singh continued his superb goal-scoring form with a brilliant hat-trick as five-time champions India defeated Malaysia 4-2 to register their fourth consecutive win at the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament on Sunday.
This was a rematch of the Asian Games gold medal match where India had beaten Malaysia 5-1 in Hangzhou recently. India had earlier defeated Bangladesh 13-0, China 5-2 and Japan 4-1 in their first three matches of the tournament.
Both India and Malaysia are already through to the semi-finals of the six-team tournament along with South Korea and Japan. India will now play South Korea in their last round robin match on Monday, while Malaysia will face Japan.
On Sunday, Harmanpreet Singh (3rd, 33rd and 58th minute) scored two goals from penalty corners and one from penalty stroke. Striker Sukhjeet Singh (43rd minute) scored a brilliant field goal.
For Malaysia, Akhimullah Anuar (25th minute) and Shello Silverius (60th minute) were the goal scorers.
The match started on a bright note for the hosts. India got their first penalty corner in the 3rd minute and skipper Harmanpreet Singh made no mistake. He converted with a powerful flick to the left of Malaysian goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman to give India a 1-0 lead.
India kept pressing hard on the Malaysian defence after the goal. They made many circle entries but could not score the finishing goal.
Malaysia came back strongly in the second quarter. They put pressure on India and got two back-to-back penalty corners in the 18th minute but failed to score. Indian defence stood strong.
India also earned two consecutive penalty corners soon after, but Malaysian goalkeeper Othman made two good saves to deny Harmanpreet Singh.
Malaysia kept up the pressure and got three consecutive penalty corners in the 24th minute but again Indian defenders saved well to keep the lead.
But a minute later, the Indian defence was caught napping. Akhimullah Anuar scored from a loose ball inside the D after getting a pass from Faiz Jali. Both teams went into half-time break with score locked at 1-1.
India came out with more energy after the break. Three minutes into the third quarter, India got their fourth penalty corner and once again Harmanpreet Singh was on target. He converted the set piece to give hosts a 2-1 lead in the 33rd minute.
India extended the lead in the 43rd minute through Sukhjeet Singh. It was vice-captain Hardik Singh who started the move by winning the ball in midfield and passing it to Sukhjeet. Sukhjeet scored with a superb tomahawk shot.
Just two minutes before the final hooter, India got their sixth penalty corner. Harmanpreet’s goal-bound flick hit the body of a Malaysian defender and India got a penalty stroke. The Indian skipper made no mistake from the spot to complete his hat-trick in the 58th minute and make it 4-1.
Seconds later India got another penalty corner but could not use it. Malaysia pulled one back a minute later through a field goal from Silverius against the run of play to make it 4-2.