Gritty Indians hold Malaysia

Danish Mujtabas late goal helps Nobbs' men remain unbeaten

The scorers for India were Ravi Pal (9th) and Danish Mujtaba (52nd). For Malaysia, the goals were struck by Tajuddin Jalil (24th) and Muhammad Amin Rahim (32nd).

India were in attack mode right at the start, however, got the goal in the ninth minute when Sunil shot into the circle and it went off the Malaysian goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin’s pads. Ravi Pal picked up the high rebound and slotted it in. Malaysia equalised when Tajuddin Jalil deflected in the flick past Indian goalkeeper Sreejes in the 25th minute.

In the 32nd minute, Malaysia took the lead off an awful Indian error.  A free ball inside the Indian striking circle with no Malaysian in sight, Sreejes came out charging and kicked the ball against an Indian defender’s leg as the umpire pointed for Malaysia’s fourth penalty corner. Muhammad Amin scored off a direct flick.

The second half was a frenetic battle for supremacy. Gone was the five-forward formula for both the teams as they battled it out for ball possession. Struggling against the man-to-man marking of the Malaysians, India finally managed to break their hold in the 53rd minute when Gurbaz moved down the right flank and centered brilliantly as a diving Danish Mujtaba sent the ball into the goal for the equaliser.

Pak to face India
Asian Games champions Pakistan pipped South Korea 3-2, and will now clash with India in order to clinch a place in the summit clash. Pakistan are on top of the table with nine points followed by India with eight. Japan are third on seven points with Korea stationed fourth having six.