Asian Champions Trophy Hockey: Ramandeep Singh helps India edge Pakistan

Ramandeep Singh (left) celebrates after scoring the winner against Pakistan in a league match of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey in Kuantan, Malaysia, on Sunday. India won 3-2.

Top-ranked India had to dig deep into their reserves to eke out a 3-2 victory over defending champions Pakistan in a preliminary league match of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey here on Sunday.

India exhibited their composed defence when under pressure from early Pakistan raids and worked hard to gain control of the showpiece encounter of the tournament at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.

Young striker Pradeep Mor scored his maiden goal in 13 international appearances to give India the lead in the 11th minute, but Pakistan then took charge through strikes from Muhammad Rizwan Senior in the 31st minute and Muhammad Irfan Junior in the 39th.

Rupinder Pal Singh converted India’s only penalty corner in the 43rd minute and Ramandeep Singh came into goal-scoring action the following minute by deflecting in a diagonal cross from Talwinder Singh.

This victory gives India seven points from three outings. India had outplayed Japan 10-2 in their first outing, but were held to a 1-1 draw by South Korea on Saturday.

Starting as two-time defending champions, Pakistan suffered a 2-4 loss to hosts Malaysia and then prevailed 1-0 over South Korea in their previous matches of the six-nation league.

Top four teams from the round-robin competition will advance to the semi-finals.

Malaysia outplay Japan to stay atop Malaysia posted their third successive victory when they outplayed Japan 7-2 to stay on top of the round-robin league standings with a maximum nine points.

Star striker Faizal Saari scored two goals to lead the Malaysian charge, while five others made an entry in the scoresheet.