Impressive India ready for Malaysia in Asian Champions Trophy hockey

Moqi, China, Sep 10 (IANS) Riding on two impressive wins, India will look to extend that streak when they take on Malaysia on Thursday in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament.

India’s wins were 3-0 against China and 5-1 over Japan. The goal scoring could have been even more but so far India has been looking good in the field. Seven of their eight goals have been from field goals. Sukhjeet Singh leads the scoring list with three goals.

While India has not been able to get more goals, the field goals have been a positive as they were unable to that as frequently in Paris, where they went on to win the bronze medal. But they do need to look at penalty corners also to add to the firepower.

Apart from Sukhjeet, skipper Harmanpreet Singh, who has not got onto the scoring charts, has also been looking good. Abhishek and Uttam Singh have also provided a strong show for India.

Drag-flicker Sanjay scored once but will need to raise his levels if he has to prove himself as a worthy successor to captain and senior drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh,.

India's first-choice goalkeeper this week, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, has stepped into the legendary PR Sreejesh’s shoes and conceded only one goal in the tournament so far. Thus far Pathak and Suraj Karkera have both been used by the coach for two quarters each in the two matches so far.

India are way ahead on the points table with two wins in as many matches and have six points. Hosts China, the only other team to have had a win, have three points at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Hockey Championship.

Korea and Pakistan have two points each from two draws in two matches, while Malaysia, the runners-up in 2023, have one as does Japan.

The top four sides from the round-robin league will qualify for the semi-finals on September 16, and the final is set for September 17.

--IANS

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