Asian Champions Trophy: Local boy Karthi Selvam powers India to a big win

Chennai: It was a humid and hot evening in Chennai but the Indian men’s hockey team rained goals to thrash Malaysia 5-0 in the Asian Champions Trophy here on Sunday.

Local boy Karthi Selvam led the charge as the Indian team scored five past the speedy tigers to move to the top of the points table.

The match started with India attacking from the get-go and Sukhjeet missed a very close chance to open the scoring.

In the last moments of the first quarter, Harmanpreet Singh found an opening and laid an inch-perfect pass for the local boy Karthi Selvam who sent the crowd into ruptures with his goal.

While Malaysia started strongly in the second quarter, India earned two penalty corners only to waste them early in the quarter.

India attacked relentlessly in the second quarter but failed to get any goals.

India made it 2-0 right after the restart as the vice-captain Hardik Singh scored from a rebound after the Malaysian goalkeeper parried Harmanpreet's drag flick.

In the 33rd minute, Nilakanta Sharma received a yellow card and Vivek Sagar Prasad followed it up with another card in the 37th minute, leaving India with nine men.

Although the Indian defence held on to the lead despite being outnumbered by the Malaysians, in the 42nd minute, India earned three penalty corners. Harmanpreet converted the third one to stamp India's authority in the game.

Despite a 3-0, the Indian team continued attacking in the fourth quarter resulting in the fourth goal scored by Gurjant Singh, who scored after an assist from Hardik Singh.

While the Malaysian team looked clueless in the closing minutes, Jugraj Singh scored from a penalty corner in the 55th minute to complete the formalities.

With this win, the Indian team have reached the top of the points table and will look to confirm their semi-final spot with a win against defending champions South Korea in the next game.