Asia Cup hockey: India break 10-year jinx, beat Malaysia for title

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Dhaka, October 22: India defeated Malaysia 2-1 to snap a 10-year wait for a continental triumph in the final of the Asia Cup Hockey Championship here. It was India's third title in the tournament's history.

India, who won the Asia Cup last time in 2007 in Chennai, scored from field efforts through Ramandeep Singh (3rd minute) and Lalit Upadhyay (29th) to dash the hopes of Malaysia, who were in summit clash for the first time.

The ever-improving Malaysians, however, fought valiantly and didn't give up for a single minute. Their efforts bore fruit in the 50th minute when Shahril Saabah pulled one goal back.

India started the match aggressively, making clear that their intention was to win the title against the second highest-ranked team in Asia. It was in the 3rd minute that the Indians found a gap in the Malaysian defence when SV Sunil played a pass from the right flank to find Ramandeep Singh inside the circle, who hit the target on his second attempt to give India the all-important lead in the final.

India continued to dominate the possession in the first quarter as Malaysia failed to produce any good opportunities. The second quarter also saw India produce some outstanding attacking play as they looked to extend their lead. However, Malaysia held on and created some chances of their own as the Indian defence stood tall to deny Malaysia of any real opportunities to score.

At the stroke of half-time, it was India was threatened again through the left flank as Akashdeep Singh found Sumit in an advance position with a long pass and the latter then found Lalit Upadhyay inside the circle, who then calmly tapped in the ball in the back of the net to make it 2-0 in India's favour.

The third quarter was a balanced one where Malaysia started to open up spaces in the Indian defence but all their efforts were well kept out.

India on the other hand, had opportunities of their own in the latter part of the third quarter but could not produce a third goal to seal the deal. Malaysia took advantage of the same as they came back hard in the fourth quarter scoring a field goal in the 50th minute via Shahril Saabah as the Indian defence failed to stop the Malaysian attackers.

Malaysia kept up the pressure on the Indian defence in the final 10 minutes of the match, but India absorbed the attacking forays made. The Indian team showed some resolute defending in the last five minutes to keep their 2-1 lead intact. In the end, the defensive skills displayed by India were enough for them to clinch the title after a gap of 10 years.