The Indian men’s hockey team rode on a sensational hat-trick from Rajkumar Pal to convincingly hammer Malaysia by an 8-1 margin in their third match of the Asian Champions Trophy at Moqi Training Base in Hulunbuir, China on Wednesday.

Besides Rajkumar Pal (3′, 25′, 33′), Araijeet Singh Hundal (6′, 39′) Jugraj Singh (7′), captain Harmanpreet Singh (22′) and Uttam Singh (40′) also contributed to India’s third consecutive win of the tournament. With this win, they have consolidated their lead at the top of the points table, with nine points in three matches. Meanwhile, for Malaysia, Akhimullah Anuar (34′) scored the lone goal.

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Riding high on momentum after recording back-to-back wins, India started aggressively to put  Malaysia on the back foot in no time by launching as many as three goals in the opening seven minutes of the match.

The first goal came from Rajkumar (3′), who showcased remarkable stickwork. The second was scored by Araijeet Singh Hundal (6′), who found the top corner from the far post, shooting past the left shoulder of the Malaysian goalie, while the third goal came through Jugraj Singh’s powerful drag-flick during a penalty corner routine in the next minute of the opening quarter.

Malaysia, on the other hand, took time to settle in. They survived multiple penalty corners in the following minutes of the opening quarter and began the next quarter on a positive note. They earned their first penalty corner of the match in the 18th minute, but Suraj Karkera, who was under the bar, made an easy save. India launched an immediate counterattack and earned yet another penalty corner, but the Malaysian first rusher averted the danger.

India continued to make attacking forays into the Malaysian half. They earned a series of penalty corners, with the last one being converted by Harmanpreet, making it 4-0 by the 22nd minute.

Rajkumar added a second goal to his name in the 25th minute, finding the back of the net on a rebound off the Malaysian goalie after a shot taken by Uttam Singh inside the circle. While Malaysia made errors in defence, India were clinical in their attack, thus ending the first half with a dominant 5-0 lead.

The third quarter continued in a similar fashion, with the Indian team maintaining control of the game through relentless attacks. Rajkumar went on to complete his hat-trick as he scored on a rebound off Malaysian goalkeeper Adrian, who had blocked Vivek Sagar Prasad’s initial shot in an open play.

Meanwhile, Malaysia sneaked into India’s circle and pulled a goal back through Akhimullah Anuar (34′) in the next minute. However, India went on to add two more goals to their tally as Hundal scored his second goal in the 39th minute, while Uttam slotted the ball home after a chaotic penalty corner routine in the 40th minute, ending the third quarter with a massive 8-1 scoreline.

It was a quiet final quarter as India slowed their tempo, and Malaysia couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity. With about six seconds remaining, India requested a video referral for a penalty corner but was unsuccessful, thus no further goals were scored in the final quarter.

Expressing delight over India’s third consecutive win, Arajieet Singh Hundal, who was adjudged the Hero-of-the-Match 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 match of the tournament on Thursday.

Resilient Pakistan beat Japan 2-1

After securing back-to-back draws against Malaysia and Korea, Pakistan finally registered their first victory of the tournament when they beat Japan 2-1 in their third match of the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 at the same venue on Wednesday.

For Pakistan, Ahmad Nadeem (10′) and Sufyan Khan (21′) found the net while Raiki Fujishima (28′) scored the lone goal for Japan. With this win, Pakistan rises to second in the pool standings with five points behind India on the top.