India rallies past Malaysia to ride into the Champions Challenge I semi-finals
India, the 10th ranked hockey team according to world rankings, rallied past Malaysia in the overtime to set a meeting with South Africa in the semi-final match of the FIH Champions Challenge I.
The encounter that took place on Thursday, December 01, between Malaysia and India was one of the most heated games in the tournament. It was played at the Randburg Hockey Stadium, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Malaysian men’s hockey team contested the entire game in quite an impressive manner. It was leading the scoreboard but failed to uphold its advantage in the second part of the invigorating game.
The main factor behind the Malaysian defeat was its lack of tendency to mark goals in the high-pressured game.
The Indian line-up exhibited a wonderful game in the first portion of the match, acquiring a couple of goals. Its penalty corner execution was extraordinary, that helped it in establishing the first advantage in the fixture.
With seven minutes into the match, Sandeep Singh converted a short corner through a drag flick, which comfortably landed inside the cage.
The early goal was not a good sign for the Malaysians who were getting warmed up. They carried out counterattacks but failed to capitalise on them.
On the other side, the Indian team was continually accomplishing attacks to test the Malaysian defence-line. However, they took seventeen minutes to double the tally.
Sandeep was the player who executed another penalty shot, expanding India’s lead up to 2-0. Despite conceding a couple of goals, Malaysia did not lose hope, and continued her fast and furious style of play.
With two minutes left in the first round, Izwan Firdaus fired the first goal for Malaysia, hitting a powerful shot at the top of the circle. The first half of play concluded with India leading the score by 2-1.
Malaysia charged up in the second half and resumed the game hurling back to back goals against India.
Azlan Misron and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin scored a couple of goals in the 42nd and 46th minutes, respectively for Malaysia. In the 57th minute mark, Misron notched another goal for Malaysia, stretching the lead up to two goals,
4-2.
India was not ready to give up, working extremely hard in search of an equaliser. A brace of goals from M. Yuvaraj and S.V. Sunil in the 64th and 67th minutes, respectively, tied the knots at four-all, forcing the two teams to move
into extra-time.
An end-to-end play was observed in the overtime where both the teams fought openly for a go-ahead goal. But it was India’s day, as Ragunath marked the game-winner in the dying seconds, sealing the triumph for India by 5-4.
India will face South Africa, the hosts, in the semi-final stage of the tournament.
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