India move closer to semifinals berth after beating Malaysia 5-0
Chennai: India struck five times to crush Malaysia 5-0 victory in a round-robin fixture of the Asian Champions Trophy here on Sunday, a PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Local boy Karthi Selvam (15th minute) opened the scoring for India, with vice-captain Hardik Singh (32nd), skipper Harmanpreet Singh (42nd), Gurjant Singh (53rd) and Jugraj Singh (54th) also joining the party. The result took India to the top of the table, helping them inch closer to sealing a semi-finals berth.
India began on an attacking note, creating some great scoring chances. The hosts finally broke the deadlock when a long pass from Harmanpreet found Selvam in the opposition semicircle. The youngster took one touch to control the ball before unleashing a shot, which beat the Malaysian goalkeeper at the near post.
Results
- India bt Malaysia 5-0
- Pakistan dr Japan 3-3
- South Korea dr China 1-1
Hardik doubled India’s lead early in the second half when he slapped in a rebound during a penalty corner. Ten minutes later, Harmanpreet, who was kept out by Malaysia’s resolute penalty-corner defence, could not be denied his 150th international goal as his drag-flick went in off the post-player.
Pakistan hold Japan
Earlier, Pakistan and Japan fought a close match before settling for a thrilling 3-3 draw. The result keeps both the teams in contention for the semifinal, with Japan placed fourth on the points table followed by Pakistan.
Drag-flicker Muhammad Khan (25th and 55th) scored a brace, while Abdul Rana (9th) was the other scorer for Pakistan. Seren Tanaka (13th), Ryosei Kato (37th) and Masaki Ohashi (45th) scored for Japan.
In the first match of the day, China came up with a strong defensive show to hold reigning champions South Korea to a 1-1 draw. While drag-flicker Jonghyun Jang opened the scoring for South Korea in the 18th minute, Chongcong Chen scored the equaliser for China in the 43rd minute.
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