PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian hockey team's long wait to defeat India continues after they lost 2-4 in the Asian Champions Trophy group match on Sunday (Nov 1).
Malaysia took their first loss at the tournament after losing to the hosts at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Punjab.
Malaysia last beat India at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games semi-finals.
World No. 12 Malaysia recently fell to India at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where they settled for silver following a 5-1 defeat to their world No. 8 opponents in the final.
Despite the loss in Punjab, the Speedy Tigers have already assured themselves a spot in the semi-finals by being in the top four of the six-team competition.
Malaysia are in second place with nine points, while defending champions India are at the top with 12 points after four games.
India’s captain, Harmanpreet Singh, stole the show after scoring a hat-trick during the match.
He scored in just three minutes to put India ahead, but Akhimullah Anuar Esook found the equaliser in the 25th minute.
Harmanpreet then took the lead again with a penalty corner conversion in the 33rd minute, before teammate Sukhjeet Singh made it 3-1 in the 43rd minute.
India’s skipper then fired the fourth goal from a penalty stroke in the 58th minute.
Malaysia’s Shello Silverius got one back for his side in the 60th minute but was too late to mount a comeback.
The national team will play their final group stage fixture against Japan on Monday (Nov 2).
