5-star India give blues to Malaysia

New Delhi: India hammered hosts Malaysia 5-1 for their first win in the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, in Ipoh on Wednesday.

The goal-scorers were Shilanand Lakra (10’), Gurjant Singh (42’, 57’), Sumit Kumar (48’) and Ramandeep Singh (51’) while Faizal Saari (33’) found the net for Malaysia.

Coming into the match after a stunning 2-1 win against Olympic champions Argentina, Malaysia were quick to get off the blocks. They attacked regulary but Indian defenders stood tall.

India drew the first blood through Lakra in the 10th minute. Lakra picked up a baseline pass from Gurjant Singh to tap it over the Malaysian goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.

The following minutes saw India goalkeeper Suraj Karkera stay busy at the post as he made some brilliant saves.

With just one goal up, India had their task cut out in the third quarter. Conceding a penalty corner three minutes into the third quarter didn’t help their cause. Saari was accurate as he sent the ball past Krishan Pathak to equalise.

A short corner in the 42nd minute saw Gurjant hold on to the rebound, after Varun Kumar’s flick rebounded off the goalkeeper. An attentive Gurjant tapped the ball into the post to put India into the lead.

India changed gears in the final quarter. Ramandeep assisted Sumit, who scored in the 48th minute. India scored two more through Ramandeep and Gurjant to round off the big win.

In other matches, Australia defeated Ireland 4-1, while England and Argentina played out a 1-1 draw.