PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian hockey team’s hopes of a podium finish at the Sultan of Johor Cup were dashed after a 1-2 defeat to India in their last round-robin match at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday.
The Young Tigers went into the half-time break trailing the three-time champions 0-1.
India’s Gurjot Singh scored with an easy tap-in after 22 minutes when the ball bounced off Malaysian goalkeeper Shabri Muaz.
Naaveennesh Panicker found the equaliser for Malaysia after beating the Indian goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation in the 43rd minute.
However, Roshan Kujur quickly restored the advantage for India five minutes later.
The visitors soaked up the pressure from Malaysia in the remaining minutes to confirm their place in the final.
With the win, India have now reached their eighth final in 12 appearances.
India have 10 points after completing five matches. They beat defending champions Britain 3-2 and New Zealand 4-2, drew 3-3 with Pakistan and lost 2-4 to Australia.
Coach Nor Saiful Zaini’s boys, on the other hand, needed to beat India to have a shot at the third placing playoff in the six-team tournament.
But the defeat saw the hosts remain fifth in the standings with four points.
Malaysia had earlier beaten New Zealand (4-2) and drew with Australia (1-1), but lost to Pakistan (2-7) and Britain (1-4).
