India regain Asian supremacy
Pre-tournament favourites India lifted the Hero Asia Cup title after 10 years with a 2-1 win over a spirited Malaysia side in a nail-biting final at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.
The Men in Blue came into this competition as the top-ranked side in Asia and lived up to their billing having remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. Malaysia, on the other hand, ended as the second-best team having entered the competition ranked second behind the eventual champions.
Ramandeep Singh and Latit Upadhyay gave India a 2-0 lead in the first half and despite Malaysia fighting back through Shahril Saabah's goal in the fourth quarter, the top-ranked side in the competition held on to the slender lead to clinch their third Asia Cup title and first since 2007.
Both teams came into the final less than 18 hours after having played their last Super 4s matches, hence some sloppy performances were expected due to fatigue, but both teams proved that notion wrong by playing attractive hockey which enthralled some 5,000 spectators.
Before the start of the tournament, India were considered the premier title contenders alongside three-time champions Pakistan and last edition's champions South Korea while Malaysia were regarded as dark horses due to their superb performances in the Hockey World League Semifinal round in England.
While the Malaysians squeezed into the final after a last-gasp equaliser against South Korea on Saturday night, the Indians had romped their way into the final. Apart from the 1-1 draw against Korea in the Super 4s, the Indians were deadly in all the matches and they proved to be a class apart against Malaysia too.
Sjoerd Marijne's side imposed heavy pressure on the Malaysian defence from the outset and took a deserved the lead in the third minute with a planned attack. Sunil Sowmapreet darted into the circle from the right flank to release a fierce push for Ramandeep Singh, who hit the board with his second attempt after the Malaysian goalkeeper had blocked the initial hit.
As the match progressed Malaysia looked better and won their first corner but failed to capitalise on it before two of their players failed to connect on a fierce hit from Mutalib Sukri in front of goal in the 20th minute.
India regained control of the game again and won two penalty corners which failed to find the target before Akashdeep Singh was brilliantly denied by Malaysia goalkeeper Subramaniam Kumar in the 26th minute.
India, however, doubled the lead on the half-hour mark when Akashdeep played on Sumit on the left side and the winger unlashed a fierce hit for Latit, who pushed it into the back of the board.
India should have further increased the margin but Latit and Akashdeep squandered two chances before Malaysia staged a fightback through Shahril's strike in the 50th minute. The Malaysian goalkeeper also joined the attack in the dying moments but they could not break the Indian defence and had to be content with the runners-up trophy -- their best ever finish in this continental competition.
Meanwhile, Pakistan put their best performance in the tournament to clinch the third position with a 6-3 victory over South Korea in a place deciding match earlier in the day.
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