Harmanpreet Singh-led India created history by defeating Malaysia 8-1 to enter in the semi-final of the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy 2024 for their successive preliminary round win. This is India's biggest win against Malaysia. India's Raj Kumar Pal smashed three goals Araijeet Singh Hundal scored two and Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, and Uttam Singh scored one goal each. This was India's third consecutive victory in the marquee event.
Raj Kumar Pal (3rd, 25th and 33rd minute), Araijeet Singh Hundal (6th and 39th minute), Jugraj Singh (7th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (22nd minute), and Uttam Singh (40th minute) sounded the board for India.
For Malaysia, Akhimullah Anuar (34th minute) managed the solitary strike. India are currently on top of the standings with nine points from three wins. India will now face arch-rivals Pakistan on September 15 and the semifinal will be played on September 16.
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Expressing delight over India's third consecutive win, Hero of the Match, Arajieet Singh Hundal said, "We want to go all through in every game, we have to win every game, that is what we plan in team meetings. We are here to win. Personally, the last two games were not up to mark, but I'm really happy that I scored today. I am getting my confidence back day by day, and I will do much better for India in the upcoming games."
India will take on Korea in their fourth tournament match on Thursday, 12th September 2024 at 1315 hrs IST. The six-team tournament is being played in a round-robin format and the top four will advance to the semifinals. No goals were scored in the final 15 minutes, but the match's result was long decided even before the final quarter got underway.
In the earlier match, Pakistan defeated Japan 2-1, putting them in second place on the table behind India.
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