Azlan Shah Cup: Dominant India breeze past Malaysia 4-2

Ipoh (Malaysia):  India zoomed to the top of the table of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with a commanding 4-2 victory overs hosts Malaysia at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium here on Tuesday.

India put a foot in Saturday's final by getting past error-prone Malaysia. They had shared the spoils with Republic of Korea in a 1-1 draw in their second match.

In the opening quarter, Simranjeet Singh and Sumit Kumar had chances to open the scoring for the visitors but missed chances while reserve goalkeeper Krishan B. Pathak pulled off a smart save to deny Malaysia a chance from its first penalty corner.

India nosed ahead in the 17th minute of the second quarter when Sumit Kumar got a free hit just outside the circle and made the most of it.

Dragflicker Razie Rahim scored in the 21st minute to restore parity for Malaysia but Sumit Kumar's field goal in the 27th minute helped the men in blue go into the break, leading 2-1.

Varun Kumar then made it 3-1 in the 36th minute after India won three consecutive penalty corners in the third quarter.

Malaysia were guilty of wasting three consecutive corners but in the 57th minute, Tengku Tajuddin pulled one back for the home team with a field goal.

Mandeep Singh, though, spoiled any hopes of a comeback in the next minute to end the match 4-2.

Courtesy the result, India went past Korea and Malaysia to the top of the points table with seven points after the win.