India repeated the show it displayed against Pakistan in the recent Hero Honda FIH World Cup in Delhi by prevailing over the traditional rival again in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament on Friday.
By S.Thyagarajan
India won 4-2 after the youthful Aussie squad defeated Egypt by four goals to nil in the opening match.
Neither India nor Pakistan could generate the element of speed and stick-work that normally stands pronounced whenever the teams come to grips.
This was largely on account of the heavy turf consequent to the downpour that interrupted the earlier Australia-Egypt tie by over 54 minutes after Australia went ahead through a goal by Grant Schubert.
India was clearly the dominant side in the match. This is reflected in the six penalty corners it forced against the three by Pakistan.
Wing half Gurbaj played a stellar role for India figuring prominently in three goals, one of them he scored with panache. Youngster Mandip Antil shaped well and scored a splendid goal, the second which put India ahead.
Australia met with a spirited defensive phalanx that Egypt presented. This delayed the first Aussie goal till about minutes.
Grant Schubert, the stalwart striker of the Aussies, hoisted the lead. In the second half, after the long delay, the Aussies threaded many a sally to smash the resistance offered by the defenders, headed by the goal-keeper Razak Farhat.
Kumar Subramaniam's goal-keeping was the highlight of the 1-1 draw between the home team and the Asian Champion South Korea.
The results:
Australia 4 (Gran Schubert, Christipher Cirello, Matt Goldes, Kieran Govers) beat Egypt 0: HT 1-0
India 4 (Sardara Singh, Mandip Antil, Gurbaj Singh, Tushar Khandekar) beat Pakistan 2 ( Imran Muhammad, Kashif Ali) HT 1-0.
Korea 1 (Oh Dae Keun) drew Malaysia 1 (Aslam Misrom).
