SOJC 2015: Fluent victory for India over rusty Pakistan

Johor Bahru (Malaysia), 11 October 2015: Precise India steamrolled rusty Pakistan 5-1 in the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup in their opening encounter today.

The defending Champions commenced the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup with perfect style as they went on to beat arch rivals Pakistan by 5-1. It was the Indians who dominated the entire match as they kept clocking in the goals, going on to register an easy win in their opening match today. However, Pakistan managed to slow down India in the second half.

The onset of the game saw the Indians going immediately on the attack, not wanting to waste any time and in the 5th minute India registered their first goal of the match as a clean pass to Ajay Yadav in the D helped him to flick the ball easily into the nets, giving no chance to the Pakistan goalkeeper to react. With the initial goal in their name, India intensified their attack further, keeping the Pakistan defence busy all through.

Mid way into the first half, India was awarded their first penalty corner but the opportunity was missed as the Pakistan goalkeeper cleared the danger. Pakistan counter attacked and were given a penalty corner, but they were unable to capitalise as the Indian goalkeeper was alert and in control.

India in the 23rd minute scored their second goal as Dipsan Tirkey from the left flank passed the ball to Sumit Kumar who was right in front of the goal box and made no mistake in finding the nets. With a 2-0 lead, Harmanpreet Singh in the 27th minute hit the ball into the opponents D and which was well received by Parvinder Singh passing it to Armaan Qureshi and who completed the job cleanly, giving India Goal No. 3.

While Pakistan was trying to get some rhythm back, India had another game plan as they ventured to add another goal right before going into the break. It was the 34th minute when Parvinder Singh through a brilliant field goal took the scorecard to 4-0 in India’s favour.

The second half saw a similar game plan by the young Indian side as they continued putting pressure on the opponents. But Pakistan finally opened their account in the 45th minute as Muhammad Dilber scored through a field goal, taking the score to 1-4. Half way into the session, Pakistan had another chance on the goal through a penalty corner but was yet again denied by the Indian defence.

In the very next minute, India was again on the attack when Harmanpreet Singh from the left flank saw an opportunity with Santa Singh standing right in front of the nets, passing it to him and the later was quick to hit the ball into the goal box. With the 5th goal in their kitty, India yet again upped the ante of attacks as they were seen regularly attacking Pakistan thereafter. Two minutes left for the game to get over, Pakistan got another penalty corner to their name but was hit off target, giving India the opening win of 5-1 in the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup.

India will face Great Britain in the next match of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup on 12th October 2015 at 16.05 IST.