Finance
After struggling to make an impression in the tournament thus far, seasoned attacker Akashdeep Singh scored when it mattered to clinch India’s amazing comeback from a two-goal deficit to defeat Malaysia 4-3 in the final here on Saturday.
This is India’s fourth title in the tournament, breaking Pakistan’s previous record of three titles (two outright and one shared). India won the title for the first time in 2011, and again in 2016. In 2018, they had to share the trophy with Pakistan because rain forced the match to be called off in Muscat, Oman.
On Saturday, however, the hosts appeared to be in peril for a while before fighting back to secure a remarkable victory, which is a big boost to the team’s morale ahead of the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
India, which took the lead in the ninth minute on a penalty corner, made a few defensive mistakes as Malaysia scored through Abu Kamal Azrai (14th), Razie Rahim (18th), and Aminuddin Muhamad (28th) to take a 3-1 half-time lead at the Mayor Radhakrishna Stadium here.
But, just as Malaysia was about to win their first Asian Champions Trophy, India came roaring back, scoring twice in a matter of seconds to tie the game.
After a rapid exchange of passes to break the defense, Nilkanta Singh set up Sukhjeet Singh. An opponent inside the circle promptly brought down Sukhjeet Singh just as he was poised to take a shot at the goal, leading to India being awarded a penalty stroke. Stepping up to the challenge, skipper Harmanpreet Singh, who was also the top scorer of the tournament with eight goals, executed a high flicked shot into the net. This skillful play brought India right back into the game.
Gurjant completed the comeback in a matter of seconds by scoring a field goal, tying the game at 3-3. He capitalized on a mistake by a frightened Malaysian defense.
Akashdeep scored the game-winning goal five minutes before the end of the fourth quarter to give India a thrilling victory in the Asian Champions Trophy.
Source:IANS
