India almost secured a title-round berth before Malaysia went on to become a savior with a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw in the ‘Super 4’ match of the Asia Cup hockey tournament in Jakarta on Sunday. Rahim (12th, 21st, 56th minutes) converted three penalty corners for Malaysia, while India He made a brilliant comeback after scoring two goals through Vishnukant Singh (32nd), SV Sunil (53rd) and Neelam Sanjeev Zess (55th).
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India had earlier defeated Japan 2-1 in their first match on Saturday.
Meanwhile in another Super 4 league match, South Korea beat Japan 3–1 to score four points. South Korea had earlier played out a 2-2 draw against Malaysia in their first match.
As in the Super 4 table, South Korea is at the top of the table with a goal difference of +2 (5-3), India (GD) +1 (5-4) is on the second spot.
Japan have no chance of making the final with two losses while Malaysia (GD) 0 (5-5) have an outside chance if they can beat Japan by a wide margin (minimum 2 goals) provided India And South Korea’s match ended in non-result.
Malaysia got off to a great start that day and kept the Indian defense under constant pressure.
Indian goalkeeper Suraj Karkera was brought into action in the sixth minute when he made a fine defense to negate a reverse hit from Muhammad Hassan.
Malaysia earned a penalty corner from the resulting move but Karkera positioned herself perfectly to block Faizal Saari’s attempt.
It was all Malaysia in the first quarter as the Indian team failed to score a single shot on the target.
Continuing pressure from Malaysia earned them another penalty corner in the 12th minute as Rahim struck Karkera with a powerful low-flick in the bottom right corner of the board.
The Indians improved their game in the second quarter and created a few chances, but it did not result in a goal.
Malaysia, on the other hand, got another penalty corner in the 21st minute and Rahim once again hit the target as India lost their second goal of the match.
A minute later, India goalkeeper Karkera came out of his line to reduce the angle and denied Sari from close.
Trailing two goals, the Indians increased the pressure after a change of ends and pulled back a goal when Vishnukanth converted from a rebound after the team got its first penalty corner.
India got another short corner in the third quarter but Malaysian goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman came to their rescue.
The ‘Men in Blue’ created a few more chances in the third quarter but the attacking third lacked a decisive touch.
India secured a back-to-back penalty corner in the 49th minute but Dipsan Tirkey failed to get past Haifizuddin, who was below the Malaysian post.
India scored in the 53rd minute, thanks to the crucial presence of Pawan Rajbhar in the mid-zone, where he snatched the ball from an opposition player and then selflessly set up for Sunil, who scored with a fierce shot from an acute angle. did.
Two minutes later, India took the lead for the first time in the match when Neelam Sanjeev converted a penalty corner.
But India’s happiness was short-lived as Malaysia equalized a minute after Rahim’s hat-trick.
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