Johor Cup: India face Malaysia in final

Johor Bahru (Malaysia), Sep 26 (IANS) India Thursday set-up a final date with hosts Malaysia with a 6-1 thrashing of South Korea in the U-21 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Hockey stadium here.

It was India’s fourth consecutive win, after beating England (2-1), Argentina (3-2) and Pakistan (4-0).

Meanwhile, Malaysia also booked their final berth defeating Pakistan 4-2 in a thrilling match.

With the win, Malaysia has 12 points, the same as India and the two teams will play in Sunday’s final. Although they have a match against each other Saturday, it will be of academic interest as their points are unassailable by third-placed Pakistan.

It was a commanding performance from the Indians as they dominated the first half, racing to a comfortable 3-0 lead.

India opened the scoring through Amit Rohidass in the seventh minute whose penalty corner drag flick sailed high into the right hand corner of the South Korean goal with keeper Lee Se Young watching helplessly.

Two minutes later India doubled their advantage as Satbir Singh put the finishing touches to a move from the right by Harjeet Singh.

India widened their advantage as Talwinder Singh scored in the 31st minute to make it 3-0.

However, the Koreans managed to reduce the deficit in the 34th minute when You Seung Ju scored from a penalty corner.

India slowed down the pace in the second half and allowed the Koreans to win a couple of penalty corners but which failed conversion.

Amon Mirash Tirkey scored India’s fourth goal in the 57th minute and Ramandeep Singh scored the fifth in the 62nd minute. Yusof Affan completed the rout in the 65th minute to make it 6-1 for India.