India scored a convincing 3-0 victory over Malaysia to enhance its chance of making the final in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament on Wednesday. The Indians, who were in a must-win situation, led 2-0 at half-time.
By S. Thyagarajan
Malaysia, which is leading the table with six points, offered very little challenge to the well organized Indian team. The latter had put behind the blues after drawing 2-2 against Egypt. India has four points from two matches.
Holding the initiative from the start, India jumped into the lead midway in the first half from a penalty corner strike by Arjun Halappa. Then Sandeep Singh pumped in a penalty corner to widen the lead and late in the second half Gurivinder Singh Chandi accounted for the third goal.
While the Indian coach, Harendra Singh, said that everything worked according to plan, the Malaysian coach, Tai Beng Hai, conceded that the better team won.
Surprisingly sluggish for the major part and not striking the rhythm at point in the encounter, New Zealand, reckoned as the favorite for the trophy here on accounting of its world ratings, almost slipped into a pit of defeat against Egypt. The 1-1 draw--New Zealand coming out with the equalizer midway in the second half, clearly portray the dominance of the Egyptians, who troubled the Kiwi defenders repeatedly.
After a goal-less first half, Egypt struck midway through when Abd El Hakeim Ahmed put the finishing touches to a neat pass by Ezz Ahmed for the lead. After a good deal of struggle, the Kiwis leveled, Steven Edwards taking credit for the drawn result.
Quite understandably, Egyptian coach, Jerzy was elated by the outcome but his Kiwi counterpart Shane McLeod had to acknowledge that the rivals played better.
Thursday's matches: India v New Zealand (5 p.m.-Malaysian local time), Pakistan v Egypt (7 p.m.)
