India beat Malaysia to title

India’s Schools registered an emphatic 5-1 win over Malaysia in the final of the 5th Asian Schools Hockey Championship at the Aishbagh Hockey Stadium in Bhopal on Tuesday.

Alishan Mohammad continued to have a standout tournament as he gave India the early lead with a stunning field goal in the 12th minute.

India’s next two goals came in the 20th and 23rd minutes when Pratap Lakra successfully converted a penalty corner and a penalty stroke respectively.

Though Malaysia came back with a field goal through Akhimullah Anuar Esook M in the 32nd minute, Alishan Mohammad got his second goal of the match in the 34th minute and earned his team a comfortable 4-1 lead at half-time.

Maninder Singh was on target in the 38th minute while the team’s defenders did well to keep Malaysia from scoring another goal to end with a comfortable victory and champions’ status.

In the match for third and fourth place, Singapore beat China 3-1 in a nail-biting shootout after the two teams ended regulation time in a 1-1 stalemate.

Jharen Glen Yap, Kai Cong Chua and Ooi Yixuan scored for Singapore in the shootout while their keeper Bing Hong Kwa was exceptional as he made three important saves to help Singapore finish third. Wu Zhigiang was the lone scorer for China in the shootout.

In regulation play, China took the lead in the 38th minute with a field goal by Zhang Lele but Singapore got the equaliser through a penalty corner strike by Jharen Glen Yap in the 49th minute.

In the fifth-sixth placings match, Sri Lanka beat Thailand 4-1. Ali Akram Amjad gave Lanka the lead with a 13th minute goal while Ashan Bandara scored in the 31st minute to make it 2-0.

In the match for third and fourth place, Singapore beat China 3-1 in a nail-biting shootout after the two teams ended regulation time in a 1-1 stalemate