India mathematically sealed a semifinal berth in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament with an emphatic 8-1 thrashing of Malaysia for a third successive win in the preliminary round on Wednesday. (More Sports News)
Raj Kumar Pal scored a hat-trick for India in the 3rd, 25th, and 33rd minute. Araijeet Singh Hundal scored twice in the 6th and 39th minute. Jugraj Singh in the 7th minute, Harmanpreet Singh in the 22nd minute, and Uttam Singh in the 40th minute were the other goal scorers for India as it posted an 8-1 triumph.
Akhimullah Anuar scored Malaysia's lone goal in the 34th minute. The victory gave India the lead in the standings with nine points from three successive wins.
After three big successive wins in the six-team tournament, the defending champions are in prime position to qualify for the semi-finals as round robin winners. In this format, the top four advance to the semifinals on September 16 followed by the final on September 17.
Next, India will face South Korea.
India's Remaining Matches
01:15 PM, September 12, Thursday - South Korea vs India
01:15 PM, September 14, Saturday - India vs Pakistan
Overall Remaining Fixtures
01:15 PM, September 12, Thursday - South Korea vs India
03:30 PM, September 12, Thursday - Pakistan vs China
11:00 AM, September 14, Saturday - Malaysia vs South Korea
01:15 PM, September 14, Saturday - India vs Pakistan
03:30 PM, September 14, Saturday - Japan vs China
10:30 AM, September 16, Monday - 5th-6th place play-off
01:10 PM, September 16, Monday - 1st Semi-final
03:30 PM, September 16, Monday - 2nd Semi-final
01:00 PM, September 17, Tuesday - Third-place play-off
03:30 PM, September 17, Tuesday - Final
Hero of the match was Araijeet Singh, who scored two goals today. However, Rajkumar Pal also deserved it because he scored a hat trick in the match.
