India clinches Sultan of Johor Cup

A dominant India triumphed in the 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup with a thumping 3-0 victory over hosts Malaysia in the title clash of the U-21 hockey tournament here on Sunday.

Amon Mirash Tirkey (22nd), Affan Yusof (52) and Manpreet (64th) were the goal-scorers for India who made up for last year’s defeat in the final against Germany.

India were the deserving winners on a day when Malaysia failed to find the spark that had seen them make the final with relative ease. India drew first blood in the 22nd minute when Tirkey scored after a fine run on the left by Kothajit Singh.

A penalty corner in the 52nd minute for Malaysia was kept out by India and from a counter attack, Ramandeep Singh outwitted Kavin Karthik for a clear run at goal. He relayed the ball to Yusof who scored easily to make it 2-0 for India.India created several chances and finally skipper Manpreet converted their eight penalty corner in the 64th minute to make it 3-0.

HI announces reward

Hockey India announced a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for each member of the squad.
The support staff will also be awarded with a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each, while Harjit Singh will get an additional cash award of Rs 100,000 for bagging the most promising player award.

Also, HI will give a cash award of Rs 1,00,000 to Savita who won the ‘Best Goalkeeper’ award at the recently concluded 8th Women’s Asia Cup held at Kuala Lumpur.