India moved closer towards a place in the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019 with a 7-3 win over Canada in a goal-laden league match on Wednesday at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium, Ipoh.
Following a dominant 4-2 win over host Malaysia on Tuesday,India was quickly out of the blocks and went close through Simranjeet Singh andShilanandLakra.
In the 12th minute, dragflickerVarun Kumar opened thescoring from India’s first penalty corner to end the first quarter 1-0.
The Manpreet Singh-led team maintained the pressure in thesecond quarter and in the 20th minute, Mandeep Singh latched on to SumitKumar’s through ball and finished it past the Canadian keeper to make it 2-0.Canada looked out of ideas as the Indians launched wave of attacks forcinggoalkeeper Antoni Kindler to be on high alert.
However, the Canadian custodian was unable to save MandeepSingh’s goal in the 27th minute when he latched on to a pass from KothajitSingh. The 24-year-old completed his hat-trick two minutes later after somegood work from Sumit Kumar as India went into the lemon break leading 4-0.
In the third quarter, Canada managed to open its accountthrough a penalty corner strike from Mark Pearson in the 35th minute. However,Amit Rohidas added another goal in the 39th minute from a corner to make it5-1.
Both teams threw everything they had in the final quarter as four goals were scored. Goals from Fin Boorthroyd (50′) and James Wallace (57′) reduced the deficit for Canada, but a 56th-minute strike by VivekSagar and a field goal from Nilakanta Sharma in the 58th minute made sure that India won the match by a difference of four goals.