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Kuantan (Malaysia), Oct 26
Opening the scoring in the 12th minute, India saw Malaysia equalise through Razie Rahim’s drag-flick in the 18th minute. However, two minutes from the end, Rupinder clinched the match for India with his 10th goal of the tournament. The win assured that India will finish the round-robin league stage on top of the standings.
India survived some anxious moments as Malaysia posed a serious challenge and had the Indian citadel under pressure in the second half. The hosts even got a penalty corner in the dying seconds but the defenders held their ground.
India now await the results of the last two games to find out the semifinals lineup. Malaysia take on South Korea, while defending champions Pakistan play China tomorrow.
India captain PR Sreejesh was rested for another game to help him recover from his ankle injury, giving a chance to reserve goalkeeper Akash Chikte to play this important match and the youngster pulled off some fine saves.
Starting with a couple of brisk raids, India forced their first penalty corner in the third minute but Rupinder’s rising drag-flick was deflected out by the goalkeeper Subramaniam Kumar, who had a cracking game for his team.
Rupinder put India ahead off their second penalty corner when he slammed the rebound into the net from close range. His initial drag-flick went off a defender’s stick and hit the crossbar before bouncing back to Rupinder, who had moved up several steps.
Nikkin Thimmaiah could have stretched India’s lead two minutes later but his deflection was saved by Kumar. India had another chance to score in the 17th minute when Akashdeep Singh drew the goalkeeper out and squared the ball to Affan Yousuf, who shot the ball over the crossbar.
Malaysia’s quick counter-attacks earned them their first penalty corner in the 18th minute and Razie Rahim produced the equaliser with a stinging shot that went over the falling keeper’s shoulder. Malaysia came close to scoring again eight minutes later when a diving Joel van Huizen deflected a cross from the right flank but the Chitke exhibited good reflexes to glove away the close-range attempt.
The second half turned out to be even more thrilling as both teams missed many chances. India had to play the last 10 minutes with 10 players after Surender Kumar was shown a yellow card.
Malaysia’s brisk attacks posed danger to India, but it was India who scored when Rupinder converted a penalty corner with a rasping drag-flick into the roof of the cage. — PTI
Junior women’s team posts 3-2 win over Spain
Valencia: The Indian junior women’s team got the better of hosts Spain 3-2 in a keenly-fought contest at the 5-nation invitational hockey tournament here. The hosts got the early breakthrough with Clara Ycart’s 15th-minute goal. But India soon hit back through Jyoti in the 28th minute. In the second half, India came out all guns blazing and Ritu was quick to give India the lead with a penalty corner conversion in the 42nd minute. But the joy was short-lived as Spain were awarded a stroke just two minutes later and Ycart made no mistake from the spot. India improved their level in the final stages and were rewarded in the 62nd minute. Sangita Kumari’s goal proved to be the winner. India face Germany on tomorrow. — PTI
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