Asian Hockey Champions Trophy: India Beats Malaysia
- By Thetripurapost Desk, Singapore
- Sep 11, 2024
- 368
Defending champion India has registered its third consecutive win in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament by defeating Malaysia 8-1. With this win, India has confirmed its place in the semi-finals. India scored a rain of goals against Malaysia.
For India, Raj Kumar Pal scored three goals in the 3rd, 25th and 33rd minutes while Arijit Singh Hundal scored two goals in the 6th and 39th minutes. Jugraj Singh scored one goal in the 7th, Harmanpreet Singh in the 22nd and Uttam Singh in the 40th minute. For Malaysia, Akhimullah Anuwar scored one goal in the 34th minute.
India has topped the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy points table with nine points after three wins. The six-team tournament is being played in a round-robin format. The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals. The semi-final matches are to be played on September 16 and the final match will be played on September 17.
India is looking in a different rhythm after winning the first match against China 3-0, the second match against Japan 5-1 and the match against Malaysia 8-1. India will now play its next match with South Korea tomorrow.
India started aggressively and launched continuous attacks in the first quarter. Rajkumar displayed a brilliant play in the third minute and put the ball inside the goal single-handedly. Three minutes later Arijeet doubled India's lead. In the third minute of the second half, Rajkumar scored the third goal on Vivek Sagar Prasad's pass, completing his first hat-trick at the senior level.