Sultan of Johor Cup: Indian junior men’s team beat Malaysia 5-2

The Indian junior men’s hockey team began its campaign in the Sultan Johor Cup by thrashing hosts Malaysia 5-2 here on Saturday. For India, Amandeep scored in the 6th minute, Arijit Singh Hundal in the 10th minute, Bobby Singh Dhami in the 20th minute, Sudeep Chirmako in the 26th minute and Sharda Nand Tiwary in the 56th minute. For Malaysia, Shahmi Irfan Suhaimi scored in the 13th minute and Mohamed Mamat scored in the 52nd minute.

India showed their intentions from the start when skipper Uttam Singh created pressure inside the circle in the very first minute. Meanwhile, Malaysia continued their strong defense and foiled the efforts of the opposition team. A few minutes later, Amandeep gave India the lead with a reverse hit. Arijit Singh Hundal put the ball into the net in a penalty corner attempt to take India 2-0. At the start of the second quarter, India continued to break into Malaysia’s circle to put pressure on the opponent’s defense.

Bobby Singh Dhami ripped the Malaysian defense to triple India’s lead. Sudip Chiramako scored the fourth goal for India in the counter-attack for India. In the second half, Malaysia got an early penalty corner but the attempt was thwarted by captain Abdul Razzaq Saywal’s mistake. Malaysia accelerated in the last 15 minutes. But a few minutes later, India got the second penalty corner of the match but the Malaysian goalkeeper defended it. Mohamed Mamat scored for Malaysia. However, Sharda Nand Tiwary scored from a penalty corner to give India a 5-2 win. India will face South Africa on Sunday.