Drag-flick specialist Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace as India fought hard against a resilient Malaysian team to win the match 2-1 in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. India now have seven points from three matches and are through to the semi-finals.
India got an early lead, thanks to Harmanpreet Singh, who converted penalty corner in the third minute. Malaysia got a chance for equaliser a three minutes later, but was hit wide.
As soon as the second quarter started, Malaysia scored the equaliser through Faisal Saari, taking advantage of a defense lapse.
For India, SV Sunil and Mandeep Singh combined to earn scoring opportunities, but faced a strong Malaysian defense each time. The match went 1-1 by the end of second quarter.
In the third quarter, India got another early chance to score from penalty corner, but Harmanpreet’s shot went wide after hitting the goalpost. Malaysia then got two penalty corners in the matter of one minute, both of which was saved by India’s custodian PR Sreejesh.
Towards the end of the third quarter, India got back to back penalty corners and Harmanpreet converted one to reinstate the lead.
The fourth quarter was again attacking as Malaysia looked for an equaliser. India, once again had an opportunity in the dying minutes, but the goal was saved by Malaysian goalie Hairi Rahman.