Azlan Cup :: India burst Malaysia’s bubble by scoring thrice

Malaysia’s winning run in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament came to end when they lost 0-3 to India here yesterday.

The Indians were a shade better and made better use of their set pieces to carve out the win at the Azlan Shah Stadium.

The result kept both teams very much in the hunt for a place in the final on Sunday.

India have two matches more to play against New Zealand and Pakistan while Malaysia will wrap up their round-robin fixtures against New Zealand on Saturday.

Malaysia’s started the match with the same line-up against Egypt on Monday but this time they went into defensive mode.

Arjun Halappa gave India the lead from an indirect penalty corner hit in the 19th minute.

The Indians kept up the pressure and it did not take too long for them to score the second goal in the 31st minute off their third penalty corner and skipper Sandeep Singh made the conversion with a direct flick.

The second half was more evenly contested but the Indians kept up the attack to stay in front.

In the 62nd minute, Gurvinder Singh made sure of a convincing win with a field goal.

Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai admitted that the Indians were the better side.

“We were not outplayed at all ... they used their chances better. Once they took the lead, we were left chasing and they effectively closed down our attacking options,” he said.

“It was a good lesson for the players and we will gain from this exposure. India are the top team and there is nothing to be ashamed about this defeat.”

In an earlier match, Egypt again produced a surprise result, this time holding New Zealand to a 1-1 draw.

The Egyptians, who also drew with India, took the lead in the 37th minute with Ahmed Abd El Hakiem scoring a field goal.

The Kiwis then stepped up the pace and in a counter attack in the 52nd minute, they were rewarded with a field goal by Steven Edwards.

Malaysia: S. Kumar, Chua Boon Huat, Mohamed Amin Rahim, Azlan Misron, Mohd Shahrun Nabil, Mohamed Madzli Ikmar, C. Baljit Singh, Ismail Abu, Kelvinder Singh, Nabil Fiqri Mohamed Nor, Engku Abdul Malek.

Reserves: Khairulnizam Ibrahim, S. Selvaraju, Hafifihafiz Hanafi, Mohamed Shukri Mutalib, Baljit Singh S.

India: Baljit Singh, Dilip Tirkey, Sandeep Singh, Arjun Halappa, Prabodh Tirkey, Prabhjot Singh, Sardar Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Tushar Khandker, Shivender Singh.

Reserves: V.S. Vinay, Bharat Chikara, Ajitesh Roy, S.V. Sunil, Ignace Tirkey.