In their third match at the Asian Champions Trophy 2024, the Indian men’s hockey team crushed Malaysia by 8-1 thanks to Rajkumar Pal’s hat-trick. Rajkumar Pal scored in the third minute, 25th minute and 33rd minute of the match. Apart from this, Arijit Singh Hundal scored two goals in the sixth minute and 39th minute of the match, while Jugraj Singh scored in the seventh minute of the match, Harmanpreet Singh in the 22nd minute and Uttam Singh in the 40th minute. At the same time, the only goal for Malaysia was scored by Akhimullah Anwar in the 34th minute of the match.
India won its third win in the tournament. The Indian team is at the top of the points table with nine points after winning all its three matches and the team has confirmed its place in the semi-finals. The top 4 teams of the group will reach the semi-finals.
The Indian team, which has won all the matches in this tournament so far, started the game aggressively. India scored three goals in the opening seven minutes of the match to put Malaysia behind in no time.
Rajkumar Pal showed great stickwork to score the first goal in the third minute of the match. Arijeet Singh Hundal scored the second goal in the sixth minute of the match, shooting from the far post into the top corner past the Malaysian goalkeeper’s left shoulder, while Jugraj Singh scored the third goal in the next minute of the opening quarter through a drag-flick during a penalty corner routine.
While India played aggressively and scored goals in quick succession, Malaysia took time to settle down. In the next minutes of the opening quarter, Malaysia saved several penalty corners and started the next quarter on a positive note. They earned their first penalty corner in the 18th minute of the match, but it was easily saved by Suraj Karkera who was under the bar. Soon after, India retaliated and earned a penalty corner, but this time a Malaysian player saved it from becoming a goal.
India continued to attack during the second quarter against Malaysia and earned several penalty corners, with captain Harmanpreet Singh converting the last one. The score read 4-0 by the 22nd minute of the match.
In the 25th minute of the match, Rajkumar scored his second goal by scoring on the rebound of the Malaysian goalkeeper after a shot taken by Uttam Singh. India performed brilliantly in its attack, while Malaysia made mistakes in defense. By the end of the first half, the Indian team maintained a 5-0 lead.
The third quarter continued in the same manner, in which the Indian team maintained control of the game through its attack. Rajkumar completed his hat-trick by scoring on the rebound of Malaysian goalkeeper Adrian.
Meanwhile, Akhimullah Anwar managed to score the only goal for Malaysia in the 34th minute of the match. However, shortly after this, in the 39th minute, Arijeet Singh Hundal scored his second goal, taking the score to 7-1. In the 40th minute, Uttam Singh put the ball in the goal after a penalty corner routine, ending the third quarter with a massive 8-1 score.
India slowed down the pace in the fourth and final quarter of the match, but Malaysia could not make the most of the opportunity. With six seconds left in the match, India requested a video referral for a penalty corner, which was unsuccessful. Thus, the final quarter ended without any goal.
India will next play Korea on Thursday, September 12. India’s last match in this group will be played on September 14.