s2h team

Aug 6: A lightening goal at the fag end of the first quarter by the local lad Kartik Selvam set the tune for a Sunday Festival of Hockey for India. Equally gem of goals each from Hardik Singh, off a penalty corner rebound, Harmanpreet Singh, directly from penalty corner, jarring but determined Gurjant Singh and Jugraj Singh made the crowd go frenzy today at the Major Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium. It did not appear in the beginning that the hosts would overwhelm hitherto undefeated Malaysia for a fluent 5-0 win. And it was a reality.

Last time India defeated Malaysia was four years ago in Aug 2019, which was also a whitewash (6-0 at Tokyo in the Olympic Test Event).

For a change the climate was a bit tolerable, and the stands barring the southern tip was full. Heartwarming to see boys and girls thronged stadium, coming even from Cuddalore, a good 120 km one side distance.

Kartik Selvam shows victory sign after scoring against Malaysia today

Efforts and times of these girls do not go waste, as Harmanpreet Singh’s team gave an outstanding performance. In fact, it appeared the contest was evenly placed as both sides were seen engaging in intense exchanges. Goalkeepers kept the sides unaffected.

It was a Malaysian attack from right flank that saw the ball stopped valiantly by goalie PR Sreejesh. Ever alert Manpreet Singh tapped that rebound on the top of D, and squared it on the right side to Harmanpreet Sigh. The captain bent his full before effecting a strong, fast, perfect diagonal that entered the top of the circle. Its where local lad Kartik Selvam showed all his scoring prowess. Even as Malaysian captain Marhan Jalil was trying to block his shot, and nip the ball away, Kartik with a strong physique and presence of mind, hit the ball with a strong forehand, the grounder would have beaten any goalkeeper, Hafizuddin Othman was no different.

Expectedly, his goal received rapturous applaud, and got him the Young Player of the award too.

Hardik Singh, ever alert, standing on the right side of the baseline, bounced on to a rebound from the goalie to enlarge the lead 2-0 two minutes in to the third quarter. Malaysians were subdued from these two loads, and the Indians had a field day.

Though they got double card and were playing two players less for a couple of minutes, India’s chosen aggressive path, delivered. Harmanpreet Singh came up with penalty corner conversion in the 42nd minute, followed by Gurjant, who seemed missing goals but was intelligent enough to get a couple of penalty corners, struck his own in the 53rd minutes. 4-0 at that point was a mountain to climb, which the visitors could not.

Jugraj Singh, often seen playing upfront, came out with a direct hit to enlarge the lead further to 5-0 to give the crowd a happy Sunday.

With two wins and a draw India has seven points, and tops the pool. They will take on South Korea today evening.

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