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On Wednesday, September 11, Indian men’s hockey team yet again produced a dominant performance against Malaysia, handing them 8-1 defeat in their third round-robin match at the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 at the Moqi Training Base in Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia, China. The match saw goals from five different players against their Malaysian counterparts with Rajkumar Pal, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Jugraj Singh and Harmanpreet Singh finding their names on the scoresheet.
In the first quarter, the Indian attacking lineup were on absolute tear right from the beginning, going 3-0 up inside seven minutes with Rajkumar Pal, Araijeet Hundal and Jugraj Singh scoring the goals. India kept their attacking intent going, keeping Malaysia at bay. While Pal’s goal came in the opening minutes of the game, followed by a brilliant strike from Hundal before Jugraj converted a penalty corner to extend the lead.
The start of the second quarter of the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 saw India make it 4-0 in the 22nd minute. But heading towards the half-time break, Men in Blue’s Rajkumar Pal got his brace, getting the back of the net in the 25th minute to continue their lead in the game and taking a comfortable 5-0 lead.
The Harmanpreet Singh-led side were quite disciplined in both their attack and defence as they extended their lead with Pal scoring once again before Araijeet Singh got the scoreboard ticking as they found the back of the net with their seventh one in the third quarter. Although Malaysia found themselves among the goals, with Akhimullah Anuar beating Krishna Pathak to get to the scoreboard. Uttam Singh scored the eighth for India with India taking 8-1 lead at the end of third quarter.
In the third quarter, Malaysia got their sight once again on the goal, but Pathak denied them a second. However, in the final quarter, both teams showed their dull side as it was the goalless quarter with India making it three-in-three and consolidating their position at the top of the points table with nine points.
In the earlier match of the day, Pakistan registered their first win of the Asian Champions Trophy after two drawn matches. They will next take on the hosts, China in their next match, before taking on arch-rivals India on September 14 in their final round-robin match.
