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Australia edged past India in the final of Sultan of Johor Cup to win the tournament for the third time in their history. The Kookaburras secured the title with a 2-1 victory in the final at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. With this victory, Australia finally put an end to their streak of losing three finals in the tournament and won the trophy in the fourth attempt.
Australia were the ones to draw the first blood in the match and they did so late in the first quarter through Ian Grobbelaar. He went on to convert Australia's first penalty corner of the game. to hand them the valuable lead with just two minutes left for the quarter to conclude.
India equalized in the 2nd quarter
Though India looked to be quite rusty on the attack in the first quarter, they went on to equalize the scores late in the second quarter through a penalty corner. Though the team have had a woeful record with penalty corners in the tournament, converting only seven out of 47, Anmol Ekka went on to make the most out out of the 48th attempt and scored brilliantly to get India back into the game.
India continued unleashing attacks in the second-half and even though they had plenty of chances to not only take the lead but even put the match to bed, they weren't able to do as Australia somehow managed to keep the scores level. Though it looked like the match would go into extra-time, Australia went on to earn a penalty with just two minutes left for the fourth quarter to end.
Australia win it late in the 4th quarter
Grobelaar slotted home the penalty to hand his team a decisive 2-1 lead in the match and they eventually went on to win the final. Though India put in nothing short of a brilliant effort in the match, it didn't prove to be enough in the end as the Kookaburras reigned supreme on the day. Meanwhile, England had earlier defeeated Pakistan by 3-2 to claim third place in the tournament.
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