#AsiaCup2017 : Indian hockey team upsets Malaysia by 6-2
Dhaka, October 20: Indian men's hockey team continued their unbeaten streak in the Hero Asia Cup Hockey match with an impressive win over Malaysia by 6-2 in their second Super 4s match of the tournament. India scored five field goals through Akashdeep Singh, S K Uthappa, Gurjant Singh, S V Sunil and Sardar Singh, while Harmanpreet converted a penalty corner in the 19th minute. Malaysia's goals came from the sticks of Razie Rahim and Ramadan Rosli.
After failing to convert penalty corner into a goal, Lalit Upadhayay shot off Ramandeep Singh's pass was saved by the stretched legs of Malaysian goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam. But India took the lead seconds before the end of the first quarter when Akashdeep found the net with a powerful shot after receiving an inch-perfect pass from skipper Manpreet Singh from the halfway mark.
Tengku Tajuddin, however, then missed an easy chance for Malaysia. Malaysia tried to dictate the pace of the game in the second quarter and earned two penalty corners, but wasted both. Harmanpreet doubled India's lead in the 19th minute with a powerful flick of the side's third penalty corner.
Later, Uthappa made it 3-0 with a slap shot as Sunil's pass landed on his stick after a deflection from a Malaysian defender, going into the halftime with a comfortable lead. After a quiet third quarter, Gurjant easily extended India's lead from close range when he was set up by Uthappa, Lalit and Akashdeep's combined play in the right flank.
Sunil then made it 5-0 with a diving deflection from Gujrant's reverse hit cross. The Malaysians earned as many as eight penalty corners in the match but could utilize just one through Razie. Towards the end, the talismanic Sardar Singh also registered his name in the scoresheet with a reverse hit goal after being set up by Akashdeep.
India will play arch-rivals Pakistan in their third and final Super 4 match on Saturday whom they had defeated 3-1 in the pool stage of the tournament. In the other match of the day, South Korea played out a 1-1 draw with Pakistan.