Abhishek Mishra in Rajgir
After drawing with South Korea in a rain-delayed match in its Super 4 opener, the challenge for team India was to defeat the Malaysian team and head into the match against China with confidence. The Indian team did just that, dismantling Malaysia with heavy pressing and a fast-paced game. For India, Manpreet Singh (15), Sukhjeet Singh (17), Shilanand Lakra (23), and Vivek Sagar Prasad (37) scored, while Shafique Hasan netted the lone goal for Malaysia.
Just a minute into the game, Malaysia pressed hard into India’s half. Shafiq Hassan broke through from the left flank, beating the Indian defense and goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak to score an early goal. The first quarter ended with Malaysia leading 1-nil.
India completely dominated the second quarter. Manpreet Singh opened the scoring with an equaliser by converting a penalty corner on a rebound in the first minute of 2nd quarter. Soon after, Sukhjeet netted a brilliant field goal and with seven minutes left before halftime Shilanand Lakra deflected Dilpreet Singh’s beautiful pass towards the goal to extend India’s lead to 3-1
The penultimate quarter also saw Vivek Sagar Prashad scoring a goal giving India a 4-1 lead. Jugraj Singh’s dragflick hit the post and the rebound was collected by Sumit Walmiki who passed it to Manpreet who in turn passed it to Vivek to score the goal.
In the final quarter no goals were scored and India maintained the lead to clinch a 4-1 victory. It was India’s best performance of the tournament. The highlight was the three field goals and with it India strengthened their position in the Super 4 points table. They will now take on China on Saturday, 6 September.
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