A clinical display by the Indian men's hockey team as they defeated Malaysia 8-1 in their third match of the Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Training Base in Hulunbuir on Wednesday.
Rajkumar Pal was the hat trick hero for India while young forward Araijeet Singh Hundal scored a brace. Apart from them, Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Uttam Singh also scored a goal each while Malaysia's only goal came from Akhimullah Anuar. With the win, India maintained their top spot in the tournament with three wins out of three.
India were off to a great start as Rajkumar scored the first goal of the match in the third minute. He showed nifty stickwork and control to beat the defenders surrounding him and the goalkeeper. Moments later, Araijeet converted a chance from a tight angle and India added a third in the seventh minute when Jugraj Singh unleashed a powerful dragflick. Not even halfway through in the first quarter and India were already 3-0 up.
The goals continued in the second quarter with Harmanpreet Singh adding a fourth from a penalty corner. He was failing to execute the shots with a couple of attempts earlier but once he got it right, there was no saving. Malaysia were decent on the ball but they didn't offer much attacking wise and defensively, they were all over the place.
Rajkumar scored his second of the match in the 25th minute. Araijeet started the move and passed it to Uttam on the right, who went for the shot but the goalkeeper saved it. The rebound fell to Rajkuamar who did well to control it and finish the chance.
The Indian midfielder completed his hat trick after the break. Vivek Sagar Prasad's initial shot was blocked by the Malaysian keeper Adrian Albert but it was a poor clearance. Rajkumar won the ball back quickly and slotted past the keeper.
Malaysia's Akhimullah pulled a goal back for Malaysia after India failed to clear the initial ball to make it 6-1 but India got two more goals in the third quarter via Araijeet and Uttam as Malaysia's defence went missing again.
No goals were scored in the final 15 minutes but the result of the match was long decided even before the final quarter got underway.
In the earlier match, Pakistan defeated Japan 2-1 which put them in the second place on the table behind India.
You can relive the match live on our blog below: