India beat Malaysia 2-1 in Sultan of Johor Cup hockey

The India junior men’s hockey team continued its winning form as it edged past hosts Malaysia 2-1 in their fourth league match of the Sultan of Johor Cup here on Thursday.

India earlier defeated Argentina. On Thursday, they dominated the match and penalty corner specialist Harmanpreet Singh’s (41st, 56th minute) two conversions helped India to earn three more points. Malaysia scored in the 68th minute. With 9 points, defending champions India now lead the <g data-gr-id="35">points-table</g>, ahead of Great Britain (8) and Argentina (7).

India’s <g data-gr-id="36">forward-line</g> managed to put pressure on the opponents from the very first minute. Forwards Arman Qureshi, Sumit Kumar, Gurjant Singh, Parvinder Singh and Ajay Yadav were always a threat.

 Arman, Sumit and Gurjant kept the defenders busy with their short passes and tried hard to penetrate the <g data-gr-id="37" style="color: #3b3b3b; font-size: 11px; background-color: white;">goal-box</g>. After a series of attacks, India earned two penalty corners in a short span but both were saved by Malaysian <g data-gr-id="38" style="color: #3b3b3b; font-size: 11px; background-color: white;">goal-keeper</g> Ridzwan Azmi. The <g data-gr-id="39" style="color: #3b3b3b; font-size: 11px; background-color: white;">first-half</g> finished goalless.

India’s midfield were more intense after half-time and tried to penetrate into the Malaysian circle with their long passes. Skipper Harjeet Singh led the midfielders pack, consisting of Santa Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Simranjeet Singh and Manpreet, and attacked the opponents from both the flanks.