Asian Champions Trophy : Down 1-3, India fight back to beat Malaysia 4-3, gift new coach Fulton first trophy
Chennai, August 12
India fought back from two goals down to eke out a 4-3 win over a spirited Malaysia in a thrilling final to claim their fourth Asian Champions Trophy title at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here today.
Jugraj Singh (9th minute), skipper Harmanpreet Singh (45th), Gurjant Singh (45th) and Akashdeep Singh (56th) were the goalscores for India.
Every coach has a different mentality. Our past coaches have been good. Even he (Craig Fulton) is good. Every coach thinks about the betterment of the team. He is doing a good job. While we have brought in structural changes in our team, managing it (changes) at such a short notice is a highly positive point for us. All credit to him
Harmanpreet Singh, India Skipper
For Malaysia, Abu Kamal Azrai (14th), Razie Rahim (18th) and Muhamad Aminudin (28th) found the back of the net.
It is India’s record fourth title, making it the most successful team in the event.
India had earlier thrashed Malaysia 5-0 in the round-robin league stage.
Malaysia were aggressive in the first half as the Indians found it difficult to restrict their opponents.
India converted their first penalty corner in the ninth minute, with Jugraj Singh scoring a fierce flick to the right of the Malaysian goalie.
India’s road to final
beat China 7-2
drew Japan 1-1
beat Malaysia 5-0
beat S Korea 3-2
beat Pakistan 4-0
beat Japan 5-0
The Indians got into the groove as the match progressed and played high-press hockey after their sluggish start.
But Malaysia didn’t sit back and continued to test the Indian defence. Their efforts bore fruit in the 14th minute when Abu Kamal Azari found the back of the net after being fed by Azuan Hasan from the right flank.
Seconds from the first quarter, India secured back-to-back penalty corners but wasted both the chances.
Results
India bt Malaysia 4-3
Japan bt S Korea 5-3
Malaysia kept up their tempo in the second quarter and earned consecutive penalty corners in the 18th minute, the second of which was converted by Razie Rahim as the ball went in after getting a deflection from rusher Amit Rohidas’ stick.
Malaysia secured a penalty corner for an unnecessary stick check by Jugraj in the 23rd minute but the effort went wide. They got another penalty corner in the 28th minute and this time Muhamad Aminudin made no mistake to hand his side a 3-1 lead at halftime.
Malaysia earned another penalty corner in the 43rd minute but India defended stoutly. The Indians turned the match on its head in a span of a minute, pumping in two goals to level the scores 3-3.
While India skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored from a penalty stroke in the 45th, seconds later Gurjant Singh found the back of the net from field play to make it 3-3.
India secured a penalty corner six minutes from the final hooter, but Harmanpreet’s flick was saved by the opposition goalkeeper.
India kept up the pressure and earned another penalty corner soon, but Harmanpreet’s effort went wide.
Akashdeep Singh scored the winner for India with a slap stick from top of the D.
In the other match of the day, Japan beat South Korea 5-3 to finish third.
