India beats Malaysia

Johor Bahru (Malaysia): India defeated host Malaysia 3-1 in the opening encounter of the Genting four-nation under-21 hockey tournament here on Wednesday.

The Indian colts found the goals through debutant Victo Singh (35th minute), skipper Diwakar Ram (47th) and Jay Karan (50th), while Ahmad Tajuddin (44th) was the lone scorer for Malaysia.

The better side

The Indians were the better side on display and dominated the entire match, but Diwakar was not at his usual best and could score only once from as many as 11 penalty corners. India should have broken the ice in the eighth minute when Jay Karan was set up by Danish Mujtaba, but the crafty striker failed to drive home the ball.

The match also witnessed both the teams taking time to adapt to the new International Hockey Federation (FIH) free hit rules in the 23m area.

The host committed numerous defensive lapses and paid the price just before half time when Victo, donning the National colours for the first time, finished off from a Belsajar Horo pass.

But Malaysia came back strongly after the break and found the equaliser from a penalty corner set piece deflection by Tajuddin.

India, however, tightened its grip scoring two goals in a span of three minutes. First, Diwakar sank one low to Hakim’s left and then Jay completed the tally after moving in tandem with Pramod.

India will next play Singapore on Thursday.

Easy for Pakistan
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Earlier, Pakistan thrashed Singapore 8-0 in a one-sided encounter. The goal hunt was led by skipper Haseem Khan (four), Inayatullah, Adeel Husain, Mohd Toufeeq and Umar Mohd. Bhutta. — PTI