Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: India trash Ireland 4-1
Sardar Singh led Indian hockey team ended their Sultan Azlan Shah Cup campaign on a positive note, after beating Ireland 4-1 in the 5th-6th place classification match in Malaysia. India had slumped to a shock 2-3 defeat against Ireland on Friday, which ended their medal contention hopes in the tournament. Here's our match report.
Varun Kumar's brace secured India's victory
India's victory means they finished on the fifth spot at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Varun Kumar scored a brace while Shilanand Lakra and Gurjant Singh also found themselves on the score-sheet against a depleted Irish side, which were missing 2 players due to illness.
India's finally played upto their standards
India were rampant against Ireland, with Varun Kumar finally converting a penalty corner for the first time in the tournament to open the proceedings in the 5th minute. In the 28th minute, Lakra doubled the lead before Varun Kumar added another in the 32nd minute. Gurjant scored India's final goal in the 37th minute after which they took their foot off the gas.
Julian Dale scored Ireland's lone goal
Ireland, somehow, managed to pull one back as Julian Dale scored in the final quarter to get a consolation. After Irish players had split the Indian defence, Dale sneaked behind them which gave him the time and space to score Ireland's lone goal. India will now be gearing up for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and will hope to perform better in Gold Coast.
