India nab first win of the tournament with 3-2 triumph in Asia derby
Akashdeep Singh scored two superb second half goals to help India claim a 3-2 win over Asian rivals Malaysia in front of yet another big crowd at a sun-drenched GreenFields Stadium. The result gives India their first win of the tournament and takes their Pool A to tally four points, moving them up to fourth place in the standings. Malaysia sit at the bottom of the pool and remain without a point.
India, who sit 8th in the FIH World Rankings, dominated the first half of the Asian derby match from start to finish, pressing their 13th ranked opponents deep into their own territory for long periods and creating a number of decent scoring opportunities before the opening goal arrived in the 14th minute. Jasjeet Singh Kular was the scorer, rifling the ball against the backboard following a Indian penalty corner that didn’t go to plan but certainly proved to be effective.
The Malaysian players looked to be a step slower than an India team that enjoyed long periods of possession and could easily have been three or four goals up were it not for some top class goal-keeping from Kumar Subramiam. It was not the first time in this tournament that Kumar has displayed his extraordinary abilities, although the reflex save he produced following a dazzling run and shot from India captain Sardar Singh was up there with his best blocks of the tournament.
Kumar made another fine block to deny a rocket of a penalty corner drag flick from VR Raghunath early in the second period moments before SV Sunil broke free of his marker and smashed a shot just wide of the left post.
Kumar’s brilliance ensured that Malaysia stayed within touching distance of their opponents, and his team almost grabbed an unlikely equaliser against the run of play when Tengku Ahmad saw his backhand effort turned around the post by Indian keeper Sreejesh. It proved to be an key moment for the Malaysians, who suddenly realised that were capable of competing with their higher-ranked opponents.
The equalising goal arrived from a penalty corner in the 46th minute, with Razie Abdul Rahim’s powerful drag-flick finding its way into the Indian goal via a defenders’ stick.
However, India reasserted their authority on the match with two terrific field goals from Akashdeep Singh. Both efforts were truly world class, with a brilliant angled deflection being followed by a glorious chip and volley after some superb build-up play from the ever-impressive Sardar.
The final ten minutes were played at a blistering pace, as the action breathlessly shifted from one end to the other. Malaysia’s Marhan Jalil made things interesting with an open play strike in the 61st minute, although India had a number of great chances to kill the game ahead of the sound of the full-time hooter.
India captain Sardar Singh was delighted with his team’s first win of the tournament and stated he believed that his charges are making strides forward with every match. “The guys are doing a really wonderful job because match by match we are really improving and playing consistent hockey”, said the midfield superstar immediately after the match. “We are happy to win our first game.”
“We tried our best, but we lost”, said Malaysia goal-scorer Razie Abdul Rahim. “We played so well and we really wanted to win. We hope we can get three points next game.”