The Indian men's hockey team recorded their first win of the progressing Four Nations Invitational Tournament by pounding Malaysia 4-2 in their round robin experience here on Thursday. In a nearly battled challenge, India scored two goals in the last quarter of the match to acquire their first focuses at the competition.
India got off to a commanding begin in the opening times of the game, squeezing high and reliably affecting turnovers to keep Malaysia in their own half.
Be that as it may, in spite of the staggering ownership, there weren't many clear shots made as Malaysia's profound barrier held firm and the two groups went into the first break secured a stalemate.
In the second quarter likewise the Indians overwhelmed in the midfield, however, were not able to discover a leap forward in the last third. This kept going till the 24th minute of the match before Sardar Singh benefited from a Malaysian oversight to dispatch an assault. His pass discovered Satbir Singh, who laid it off to Thimmaiah at the edge of the circle.
Nikkin dummied the defender and cut into the circle, before unleashing a shot into the base corner to give India a 1-0 lead, which they clutched as the match went into halftime.
Nine minutes into the second from last quarter, Malaysia hit back with an equalizer with Faizal Saari changing over a punishment corner.
The equality didn't keep going long, however, as India won their first PC practically from the restart. From the penalty corner, Rupinder Pal Singh committed no error and at the end of the day gave India the lead. The teams went into the last break with India driving 2-1.
Malaysia had a whirlwind of PCs in the opening minutes of the last quarter. Shahril Saabah changed over the second to draw level once more, setting the phase for an energizing completion.
The equalizer from Malaysia served as a surprisingly positive development for India as they ventured up to their diversion and began being more confident with their ownership, making more infiltrations into the Malaysian circle.
The predominance paid off in the 55th moment with Nikkin scoring his second goal of the game. India ventured up an apparatus and inside a minute as Akashdeep Singh scored the fourth goal for India.
India will next play New Zealand on Saturday.
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