So far so good. Barring a hiccup against South Korea, India have maintained cruise control in the 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia.

After whipping 10th-ranked Canada 7-3 in their fourth match on Wednesday, India, ranked fifth, have made the final with one match to come against Poland, the tournament’s lowest ranked team at No. 21.

India’s opponents in the final, where they will aim for a sixth title, will be South Korea who like India have collected 10 points from four matches after putting it across hosts Malaysia 2-1 later in the day.

Much credit, however, must go to Mandeep Singh and Varun Kumar. Mandeep’s effervescence up front has led to five goals from the forward’s blade including a hat-trick against Canada while dependable defender Varun has scored three from penalty corners.

India, without a host of first-choice players and reeling from the absence of a full-time coach after the sacking of Harendra Singh, the current campaign of this prestigious invitational tournament is an exercise in confidence building after the travails of the World Cup in Bhubaneswar late last year.

Even though India finished sixth – their best position in 24 years – the campaign was considered disappointing and coupled with the traumatic defeat to Malaysia in the Jakarta Asian Games semifinals three months prior, led to the ouster of Harendra.

That reverse came in a shootout after India led 2-1 with only 90 seconds to go and snuffed out the prospect of booking a direct ticket to the Olympics.

Guided by analytical coach Chris Ciriello amid news of another Australian – Graham Reid — likely to assume the role of head coach, India have their mind on the Hockey Series Finals in Bhubaneswar in June where two spots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifier are up for grabs.

The team didn’t exactly fire on all cylinders in beating 18th-ranked Japan 2-0 in the opener. Then, against 17-ranked South Korea, the memories of Jakarta came flooding back. A last-minute penalty corner goal made it 1-1 and with hosts Malaysia and Canada to play next, the prospects of reaching the final of the six-nation tournament were then a tad in doubt.

The sequence of the next two matches also bore ominous forebodings. Malaysia, and Canada beat India in the 2017 Hockey World League Semifinals in London – setbacks that spelled the end of Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans tenure.

But India got the script right this time. They beat 13th-ranked Malaysia 4-2 with a dominant performance before routing Canada 7-3, registering the same margin as at the World Cup where India won 5-1.

Statistically, Canada have proved a thorn in the flesh even at global majors like the World Cup. The Maple Leaf beat India at Buenos Aires 1978 (3-1) and Utrecht 1998 (4-1). The performances revealed the gritty, hard-working nature behind the team culture in a land where field hockey is eclipsed by the version on ice.

Besides, Canada are the next best ranked nation at the event after India and the victory would have done wonders for the morale of the team.

Poland are up next but having been out of the top echelons for long, an Indian win appears to be a formality.

A victory in the concluding encounter before the final against nippy South Korea on Saturday will hold India in good stead and they would do well to take on Poland on Friday absolutely focused.