PTI
IPOH, MALAYSIA
A dominant Indian hammered arch-rivals Pakistan 5-1 with SV Sunil striking twice in a round-robin league match of the Sultan Azlan Cup hockey tournament on Tuesday.
The highlight of the match was four fantastic field goals from India while the other came from a penalty corner conversion. After their scrappy win over Canada in the last match, the Indians rose to the occasion and looked more orgainsed and purposeful against Pakistan.
It took India just four minutes to take the lead through Manpreet Singh, who scored with a fierce reverse shot from a tight angle after being fed by Sunil. But Pakistan equalised three minutes later when skipper Muhammad Irfan (7th minute) converted the second of their successive penalty corners.
India restored their lead in the 10th minute through Sunil, who scored with a deft touch off Manpreet's shot from outside the circle. It was all India after the change of ends as they pumped in as many as three goals to run away with the match.
Sunil scored his second goal of the day in the 41st minute before Talwinder Singh entered the score sheet in the 50th minute with another field strike. Rupinder Pal Singh then converted a penalty corner in the 54th minute to make the scoreline 5-1. The final scoreline could have been more impressive for India had Rupinder not missed a penalty stroke in the final five minutes of the match.
The victory took India to the second spot in the round-robin league standings with nine points from four outings. The table is being led by world champions Australia on 12 points from four straight wins.
Australia took one step into the final when they prevailed 1-0 over Oceania rivals and defending champions New Zealand, who now have eight points from five matches. The all-important goal for Australia was scored by captain Jamie Dwyer, who capitalised on a rebound to shoot into the open goal with the goalkeeper at his mercy.
Later in the day, in an exhibition of the sub-continental style of hockey, India lifted their game by leaps and bounds to dominate the match, forcing Pakistan to crowd their territory in the second half to deny Sardar's men more goals.
