Bronze and a smile for India in Azlan Shah Cup

BANGALORE: India staged a superb second-half rally to floor Great Britain 3-1 and bag the bronze medal at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh on Sunday.

New Zealand won the title with a 1-0 verdict over Argentina in the final, Andy Hayward fetching the match-winner in the 18th minute.

Trailing by a penalty corner goal by Ashley Jackson, five-time champions India pieced together telling moves in the second half to slot home three goals.

Shivendra Singh (43rd min) scored off a SK Uthappa cross, Sandeep Singh (52nd min) converted a penalty corner and Tushar Khandker (69th min) nudged the ball into an open goal as India avenged their 2-3 defeat at Britain’s hands in the league stage.

Tushar’s goal was gift that Britain could well have avoided. But with three minutes to go for the hooter, desperation was written large on Britain’s faces as they strived for the equaliser. Deciding to go with 11 field players, Britain substituted their goalkeeper James Fair despite facing the risk of playing the last few minutes with an open goal. Tushar made the most of it, trapping an aerial ball from Sandeep.

Chief coach Michael Nobbs was delighted with the victory. “It’s a good win and a medal here was what we were aiming at. We played some good hockey for long periods. The defence was sound and compact and provided a great back-up to the forwards,” Nobbs told TOI.

“But we still need to work on our presence in front of the goal. At half-time, I had told my players to be more thorough with their execution. They were losing the ball after getting into the circle. It’s fine against teams that are ranked lower but the top teams are more aggressive in defence,” Nobbs said, referring to a few misses by Shivendra and SK Uthappa.

Nobbs was all praise for midfielder Sardar Singh, whose control over the match was exemplary.

“Sardar was outstanding and he and Sunil were named as Azlan Shah XI. Sardar was also named the best player of the tournament. But I felt Birendra Lakra and Manpreet were also worthy contenders.”

The Australian agreed the podium finish on Sunday had come as a big boost to the team but said India had a lot of work to do in certain areas to make an impact at the Olympics. South Korea finished fifth with a narrow 3-2 win over hosts Malaysia.

Results:

New Zealand 1 (Andy Hayward 18th) bt Argentina 0. 3-4 places: India 3 (Shivendra Singh 43rd, Sandeep Singh 52nd, Tushar Khandker 69th) bt Great Britain 1 (Ashley Jackson 35th). 5-6 places: South Korea 3 (Hyun Hye Sung 1st, Jang Jong Hyun 42nd, You Hyo Sik 50th) bt Malaysia 2 (Hafifihaziz Hanafi 17th, Faisal Saari 63rd). Pakistan finished seventh.

Special awards:

Fairplay: Great Britain. Best Player of Tournament: Sardar Singh (India). Best Goalkeeper: Kyle Pontifex (New Zealand). Top-scorer: Ashley Jackson (Great Britain). Man of the Match (Final): Kyle Pontifex (New Zealand).