Archive: Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015

SAS 2015: India draws Korea 2-2 in the Azlan opener

SAS 2015: India draws Korea 2-2 in the Azlan opener

Sardar Singh led-India was off for a good start in the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Sunday, after they drew their first match against South Korea.

The team looked promising as kept attacking right from the beginning and not giving Koreans any chance to score.

India took lead in the 11th minute after Nikkin Thimmaiah intercepted a good cross from Rupinderpal Singh.

Then on, India continued dominating and creating chances as the game progressed.

The Koreans, meanwhile, made a few futile attempts before equalizing through a penalty corner converted by Hyesung Hyun in the 25th minute.

After struggling to score in the third quarter, the Koreans were suddenly charged up and kept pressing the Indian team. They achieved luck in the 53rd minute after Seongkyu Kim flicked the ball of a brilliant pass from Jun Jung Lee.

Thereafter, the Indians, not ready to give up till the last moment looked for chances and managed to earn one after a penalty corner came their way in the 56th minute of the game.

Realizing the importance of the situation, V.R. Raghunath made no mistakes as he flicked the ball to the top left of the D.

SAS 2015: India lose to NZ 1-2 in a tight contest

SAS 2015: India lose 1-2 in a tight contest against New Zealand

India, on Monday, went down 1-2, fighting against New Zealand in a rain-hit match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia.

Starting on a positive note after drawing their first match 2-2 against Korea, India played a tight match, not allowing New Zealand to penetrate often into the Indian D.

With barely six minutes remaining for the first quarter, the match was stopped for nearly ten minutes owing to heavy rain. At the end of the first quarter, Ramandeep Singh got an open space right infront of the goalmouth, but he flicked the ball straight to the goalkeeper.

In the second quarter, India earned its first penalty corner in the 17th minute. But, a poor injection cost the chance to take lead.

Exactly ten minutes later, a foul committed by Kothajit gave New Zealand their first penalty corner, which was taken by Nick Haig. He, however, didn’t find the right direction and the ball went wide.

After a goalless first half, the second half began on a fast pace, as both teams went on an attacking spree.

In the 38th minute, in a crowded Indian D, Shay Neal hit was slightly deflected by skipper Simon Child, gifting New Zealand their first goal.

Five minutes later, India found the equalizer, with Akashdeep pushing the ball off the rebound from V.R. Raghunath in the penalty corner exercise.

However, New Zealand, thereafter, once again turned the match into their favour after Andy Hayward converted the third penalty corner for his team.

Thereafter, India, tried few desperate attempts, but made silly errors owing to the pressure-stricken situation.

India go down fighting, lose 3-2 to Malaysia

Ipoh (Malaysia), 08 April 2015: India taking on Malaysia today gave a tough fight to Malaysia but went down 2-3 to the opponents. The game started with India taking immediate possession of the ball and attacking the D of the Malaysians. India with majority of the possession of the ball kept the pressure on the opponents. In the 12th minute India saw hope as Satbir Singh took possession of the ball and ran solely towards the D, beating two defenders of the opponents, but unfortunately he failed to capitalise. The next minute Akashdeep Singh had a half chance as he received a pass from Raghunath which he passed to Ramandeep who missed on the crucial touch. With both teams unable to open their individual accounts the first quarter proved to be a dry run and scores stood at 0-0.
Immediately into the second quarter Malaysia got a penalty corner in the 17thminute which was converted by Faizal Saari who did not make. mistake in outing it past the Indian goalie. Trailing the game, India bounced back immediately and in the 20th minute India was awarded a penalty corner which was taken by Rupinder Pal Singh. Realising the importance of the opportunity he did no mistake in slamming it into the net and India opened their account with the goal and equalizing the game. Malaysia realizing that they lost hold on the game attacked and got one more penalty corner in their name but they missed capitalising. Post their first goals, both teams failed to score any further and the first half scores stood at 1-1.

The third quarter started with India putting the initial pressure but were unable to convert. It was Malaysia who broke the defence of India in the 35thminute as Samsul Haziq beat PR Sreejesh to score, resulting in Malaysia taking the lead again in the game with 2-1. The same quarter, Sardar Singh trying to enter the D was tackled by the Malaysian defender resulting in India getting the penalty corner. India was unlucky as Rupinder Pal Singh was unable to go past the goalkeeper this time. In the final moments of the quarter Sardar gave a pass to Akashdeep Singh on the left flank who hit at the D towards the goal but the opportunity was lost. The session ended in Malaysia leading 2-1.

Looking at equalising the goal India kept ball possession and attacked the D. India got another shot at the penalty corner but Raghunath failed this time and India lost another opportunity to equalise. Not giving up India maintained the pressure on the opponents. They got another penalty corner in the 51st minute and this time Rupinder ensured that the ball found the nets and India equalised 2-2 leaving the Malaysia stunned. Realising the chance to take the lead, India upped the ante. Manpreet Singh from the right flank created an opportunity by passing the ball to the waiting Ramandeep Singh but unfortunately for India he failed to deflect. Next minute India attacked yet again as Kothajit ran with the ball towards the D and passed the ball to S Uthappa standing right in front of the goal post but he failed to put the ball past the Malaysian goalie. But it was Malaysia who took the lead in the 58th minute as Shahrun Abdullah converted through an excellent pass by Faizal Saari resulting in Malaysia winning the match 3-2.

India outclass Malaysia 5-3

Ipoh (Malaysia), 09 April 2015: Playing their fourth match of the tournament, India clashed against Canada today wherein they claimed a convincing win of 5-3 over the opponents during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015 in Ipoh, Malaysia. The last quarter of the game proved to be an action packed session as it rained goals for both the teams.

The first quarter saw valuable efforts from both the teams as they produced a neck-to-neck fight as they aimed at ball possession and did not give away any chance to each other to score. While India was seen embarking on scoring opportunities from the onset, Canada earned two penalty corners but failed to capitalize it. Retaliating Canada’s attempts to score, India made full use of the awarded penalty corner through Rupinder Pal Singh and convert it in the 13th minute of the game. By the end of the first quarter, India took the lead 1-0.

While the Indian team looked to maintain an upper hand over Canada in the second quarter, Canada was seen relying highly on counter attacks. Continuing to make some swift moves, India earned its fourth penalty corner but it went in vain as they failed to convert as Rupinder Pal Singh hit the ball high above the net. As Canada was trailing by a goal and stood unsuccessful in opening their account in the first half of the game, the score board read 1-0 in favour of India.

With the change of sides, India continued to show a spirited performance and continued to assert pressure on the opponents. With just two minutes into the third quarter, VR Raghunath successfully converted a penalty corner and scored in the 32nd minute to double the lead 2-0. India was by far the dominant on the defensive side. As Canada made desperate efforts to open their score card, Oliver Scholfield scored the opening goal for his team in the 43rd minute and took the score to 2-1.

The last quarter was a decisive phase, where both the teams continued to put constant pressure on each other. Within a minute, India advanced the lead to 4-1 as Ramandeep Singh scored a brace in the 46th and 47th minute. Giving very less time for the Indian team to relax, Canada bounced back in action and converted a penalty corner through Jagdish Gill in the 49th minute. Without leaving any scope for mistakes, India’s Satbir Singh scored a field goal in the 49th minute itself and escalated the scores to 5-2. Canada added another goal to their tally as David Jameson made no mistake in netting the ball to score the third goal for Canada. With both the teams unable to add any further goals, India declared a comfortable win over Canada 5-3.

SAS 205: India register their first win

SAS 205: India register their first win

India recorded its first win in the Sultan Azlan Shah cup, after they beat Canada 5-3 in their fourth match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Thursday.

In what was supposed to be an easy match, if not one-sided, however went on to be a tight one, especially in the third and fourth quarter when goals kept coming in for both the teams.

With this, India now have four points from four matches.

Canada, began a little slow but managed to get a penalty corner in the fifth minute. As many as three attempts by them, could however, yield no results for them. India got the early lead after Rupinder flicked the ball off India’s third penalty corner.

India managed to maintain that lead till the first half and added one more to it in the third quarter after V.R. Raghunath misled the goalkeeper easily to score off the fifth penalty corner.

Two minutes to go for the end of the third quarter, Canada pulled one down after Oliver Scholfield pulled one down as the Indian defense fell flat. India, meanwhile, wasted three more penalty corner in the quarter.

Ramandeep Singh gave some relief to his team, after he scored two quick goals through deflection in the 46th and 47th minute. The first one came off a long cross and the second was set up by Gurbaj Singh.

There on, Canada doubled up its attack, scoring a goal two minutes later in the 49th minute off a penalty corner. The goal was scored by Jagdish Gill, an Indian-born Canadian.
But, India managed to increase the lead again after Satbir Singh deflected a quick ball from the right flank, set up by Manpreet Singh.

The final goal of the match came in the 52nd minute after David Jameson steals a ball, standing right behind goalkeeper Harjot Singh, slightly pushed it for his team’s third goal.

India, in total, received eight penalty corners but converted just two.

SAZ 2015: India clinches Bronze

Ipoh (Malaysia), 12 April 2015: After registering a thumping victory over Australia, the confident Indian team defeated 8th-ranked Korea by 4-1 (2-2) today, which was ended with penalty shoot-out, and clinched the Bronze Medal in the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015 being played at Ipoh, Malaysia. This is Team India’s fifth Bronze Medal in the prestigious tournament as they previously won the Bronze in 2012, 2007, 2006 and 1983. India claimed five Gold medals in 2010, 2009, 1995, 1991 and 1983 in the tournament.

The match started with full force as both the teams locked their horns to finish third position. South Korea earned a penalty corner in the 9th minute, which was thwarted by one of the world’s best goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who anticipated the direction of the ball in mili-seconds. India soon counter-attacked on its opponent and this time midfielder SV Uthappa carried the ball speedily from the right flank and passed towards forward player Nikkin Thimmaiah, who was standing in front of the goal-box. Nikkin reflected the shot and send the ball into the nets to take the early lead of 1-0 in 10th minute.

In 2nd quarter saw a tough battle between two teams as South Korea came back strongly and kept on attacking on Indian defence. In the 20th minute, they managed to earn another penalty corner and this time they were determined to score a goal. PR Sreejesh again managed to prevent the shot but the rebound shot was received by Korea’s Hyosik Cho who hit the ball hard into the goal-box. With this goal, South Korea managed to equalise the score-line 1-1. However, after two minutes, Indians counter-attacked again and this time forward player Satbir Singh carried the ball speedily from the left flank and gave a short pass to midfielder Dharamvir Singh, who returned the ball to Satbir. By this time, Satbir came in front of the goal-box and send the ball into goal-box. India displayed an excellent team-work and took the 2-1 lead. After receiving the jolt, South Korea attacked again and managed to earn three back-to-back penalty corners in 29th minute. India thwarted Korea’s two attempts but Hyunwoo Nam converted the third attempt and equalise the score-card by 2-2 by the end of second quarter.

In the 3rd quarter, both the teams came on field with better strategies and gave a tough fight to each other. Both the teams tussled for the ball possession and continuously attacked on their opponent’s half. But both the defence line-up played extra-ordinary and failed their opponent’s attempts. After a hard battle, the quarter went goal-less. In the 4th quarter of the match also saw close-fought battles between the players from both sides. Both the teams gave their level best to score the winning goal but they lacked the finishing touch and the match went to penalty shoot-out.

The world-class goal-keeper PR Sreejesh showed his mettle again and thwarted two shoot-out attempts of South Korea to become the real hero of the match. He failed the attempts of Korea’s Kihoon Kim and Juhun Kim to help his team. For India, Akashdeep Singh, captain Sardar Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra out-foxed Korean goalie Jaehyeon Kim and hit successful goals to register a remarkable 4-1 (2-2) victory over higher-ranked Korea. With this win, India finished third and clinched Bronze Medal after 2012.

For Sreejesh heroic performance, he was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match.