The Hague (Netherlands): Striker Akashdeep Singh scored two goals in the space of three minutes to set up India’s 3-2 victory over Malaysia in the men's Hockey World Cup here on Saturday. Jasjit Singh Kular opened the scoring for India in the 13th minute and Malaysia equalised in the 45th with a penalty corner conversion by Mohammad Razie before Akashdeep got into the goal-scoring act, which helped the team post their first win of the tournament.
Akashdeep first applied the finishing touch to Rupinderpal Singh’s fine run on a counter-attack by deflecting in a diagonal cross into the boards in the 49th minute. Two minutes later, he picked up a pass from captain Sardar Singh inside the circle and slammed the ball past Malaysia goalkeeper S. Kumar. Malaysia reduced the lead in the 61st minute when Marhan Jalil fired in on a rebound from India custodian P.R. Sreejesh on a breakaway move.
India wasted several scoring opportunities, but also had to depend on their defenders to keep out the dangerous Malaysian raids in the closing stages. The victory gave India four points from as many matches in Group ‘A’, and ensured that they would not face the ignominy of being the bottom-placed team in the pool. Irrespective of the result of India’s last group match — against defending champions Australia — they will finish either in the fourth or fifth in their pool.
On the day, Australia posted their fourth straight win and assured themselves of a semi-final berth. The Kookaburras were rampant in their 5-0 win over England, who will now face Belgium in their crucial final league game. While a draw will see Belgium advance, England will have to win by a big margin if they are to enter the last-four. Earlier, Belgium consolidated their second place in the pool with a 5-2 win over Spain. They have nine points from four games, and enjoy the advantage of a superior goal difference.
Germany on verge of exiting the World Cup
On Friday night, Holland beat Germany by a solitary goal to dent the Olympic champions' chances of making it to the last four. Dutch striker Jeroen Hertzberger capitalized on a pass from Billy Bakker in the 23rd minute to score the all-important goal as the hosts avenged their loss in the 2012 Olympic Games final to take the top spot in Group ‘B’. Holland have nine points from three successive wins, while Germany have three points from three matches.
