India defeats Malaysia, Japan, enters semi-finals in Men’s Asian Hockey 5s World Cup

The Indian men’s team secured a place in the semifinals of the Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifiers. After a narrow loss to arch-rivals Pakistan, the Men in Blue orchestrated a stunning comeback by overwhelming Japan 35-1 following a hard-fought victory over Malaysia by 7-5.

The encounter against Malaysia was a tense affair, with both teams fiercely competing. Malaysia initially took the lead with Arif Ishak scoring in the 6th minute, quickly followed by Ismail Abu in the 7th.

However, India swiftly rebounded, with Gurjot’s remarkable five goals (7th, 11th, 17th, 29th, 30th) leading the charge. Maninder Singh contributed a goal in the 12th minute, and Mohammed Raheel netted one in the 21st.

Despite Malaysia’s Muhamad Din scoring in the 8th minute and later goals from Kamarulzaman Kamaruddin (26th) and Syarman Mat (30th), India maintained control.

In the second game against Japan, India delivered an overwhelming performance. Maninder Singh led with an incredible ten goals, closely followed by Mohammed Raheel, who scored seven times. Gurjot Singh and Pawan Rajbhar each added five goals, while Sukhvinder contributed four.

Captain Mandeep Mor netted thrice, and Jugraj Singh scored once. Japan’s lone goal came from Masataka Kobori in the 29th minute.