Asian Champions Trophy: Harmanpreet scored 150th goal, India beat Malaysia 5-0

Chennai Despite dominating a drawn match against Japan, India thrashed Malaysia 5-0 in a crucial round-robin stage match at the Asian Champions Stadium amid some worrying moments, at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Sunday. Great performance.

The Indian men’s hockey team executed their game plan well to climb up the points table. Playing in front of a packed home crowd, the hosts lived up to the billing and produced an exciting brand of hockey.

It was a memorable outing for Harmanpreet Singh, who scored his personal milestone of scoring his 150th international goal for PC in the 42nd minute, while Karthi Selvam (15′), Hardik Singh (32′), Gurjant Singh (53′) ) and Jugraj Singh (54′) contributed to India’s victory.

With two consecutive wins in this game, a 3-1 win against Pakistan and a 5-1 win over China, Malaysia will be looking to stay ahead of India in the points table. But India played aggressively and with the right intent to score at regular intervals.

Within the first five minutes of the match, experienced forward Akashdeep Singh launched a strong attack by passing the ball to Vivek Sagar Prasad, who deftly tackled some Malaysian defenders to assist Sukhjeet. Although the striker took a powerful shot at goal, his flick missed the target.

Minutes before the first quarter whistle, India’s first goal was scored by local hero Karthi Selvam. It was captain Harmanpreet Singh, who made a wonderful long, grounded pass to Karthi, setting him up for a fine field goal from the top of the circle.

After a goalless second quarter, India took a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute thanks to Hardik Singh, who got the captain’s third PC. Although Harmanpreet’s flick was well saved by the Malaysian goalkeeper, Hardik took the rebound well and put it on the post.

Harmanpreet scored a goal in the 42nd minute to increase the team’s lead to 3-0.

With a comfortable 3-0 lead, India were looking to do well. Employing a disciplined attack, India piled up the pressure on Malaysia by scoring several goals. Gurjant Singh (53′) and Jugraj Singh (54′) scored two consecutive goals to put India ahead 5–0. Indian defenders did well to keep India in the lead till the final hooter.