India edge past Malaysia to top
KUANTAN, MALAYSIA: Ace dragflicker Rupinder Pal Singh continued to stamp his authority in the ongoing 4th Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament as he converted two penalty corners to clinch India a 2-1 victory over hosts Malaysia.
Opening the scoring in the 12th minute, Rupinder saw Malaysia equalise through Razie Rahim’s drag flick in the 18th minute, but got into the goalscoring act again two minutes from the end to clinch India a win in the crucial outing and top the league standings.
India survived some anxious moments as hosts Malaysia posed a serious challenge and had their citadel under pressure in the second half and even got a penalty corner in the dying seconds, but the defenders held their ground.
Rounding off their five outings with four wins and a draw, India topped the round-robin league standings with 13 points and now await the results of Thursday’s games to find out who they play in semifinal. Malaysia, with nine points from four matches, take on South Korea on Thursday, while defending champions Pakistan play China.
WOMEN PULL OFF
3-2 WIN OVER SPAIN VALENCIA: India’s junior women team got the better of hosts Spain 3-2 in a keenly-fought contest at the 5-Nation Invitational hockey tournament here.
In a highly charged encounter, it was the hosts who got the early breakthrough with Clara Ycart’s. But India soon hit back via Jyoti.
India came in the second half out all guns blazing and Ritu was quick to extend India’s lead with a penalty corner conversion.
Spain levelled through Ycart before India struck the match-winner through Sangita Kumari.