Malaysia lead the standings on six points after three matches — one point more than India and New Zealand.
The final round-robin matches will be played tomorrow and India have to beat Pakistan to qualify for the final on Saturday. New Zealand have to beat Malaysia to claim the berth while a draw will be enough for the hosts to play in the final.
Yesterday, India again relied on penalty corners for goals and skipper Sandeep Singh scored a goal in each half.
The first came in the 27th minute after the Kiwis had taken an early lead with a field goal by Richard Petherick in the eighth minute.
Sandeep gave India the lead in the 48th minute from their fifth penalty corner. But a late rally by New Zealand earned them the equaliser in the 63rd minute through Joseph Barth Holomew.
Both sides had several good chances to get the goals but the goalkeepers Kyle Pontifex and Baljit Singh were not to be beaten again.
Indian coach Harender Singh said that they would be up to the task to beat Pakistan tomorrow.
“That is the only way we can qualify for the final. It is always an emotional match when we play against Pakistan. It will be no different on Saturday,” he said.
“The players know that they have to play much better than they did today to get the result. We were not strong enough to hold on to our lead and paid the price for some poor defending.”
Pakistan secured their first win of the tournament, beating Egypt 4-0 to stay in the hunt for a podium finish.
Shakeel Abassi scored the first hat-trick of the tournament with efforts in the 18th, 43rd and 67th minutes after fullback Mohamed Imran had given Pakistan the lead in the 14th minute with a penalty corner goal.
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