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KUALA LUMPUR Defending champions India put on a fighting display to beat world champions Australia 4-3 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Monday, scoring their first win over the Aussies in seven years.
Forward Tushar Khandker made his international debut in that 2003 match in Sydney, and in the northern Malaysian city of Ipoh he scored two goals in the 4-3 win, keeping the team at the top of the standings with 10 points.
India took the lead in the 19th from a field goal by Khandker, and three minutes later skipper Rajpal Singh made it 2-0. They then went 3-0 up in the 33rd minute when Tushar managed to slot home from close range.
But in a see-sawing exchange, the Australians scored twice in the first five minutes of the second half, allowing them back into the game.
Australia tried hard for an equaliser but in a sudden counter-attack India increased their lead with Singh scoring in the 61st minute.
Mark Peterson scored the third goal for the Australians in the 69th minute but it was not enough to deny India the three points.
Indian assistant coach Harender Singh praised the players for keeping their cool and sticking to the game plan.
“It is a good morale-boosting win and we must build on it. We are still not fluid enough but with greater work we can get there,” he said. “We have two more matches to go and we will try to win and make the final.”
South Korea put themselves back in contention for a place in the final when they defeated China 5-3.
The win gave the Koreans seven points from four matches and their remaining fixtures are against Australia on Thursday followed by Pakistan on Saturday.
It was China who attacked from the first whistle and forced a penalty corner in the third minute. Sun Long sent an unstoppable flick into the roof of the net to put China 1-0 ahead.
The Koreans were unlucky when an attempt by Nam Hyun Woo off their first penalty corner in the ninth minute hit the crossbar with China keeper Su Rifeng completely beaten.
Korea found the equalizer in the 25th minute when Cho Suk Hoon's shot from the top of the semi-circle beat Rifeng.
Korea were then awarded another three penalty corners before Hyun Woo finally got the better of Rifeng in the 29th minute when his low flick on the left of the keeper sailed in to put Korea 2-1 ahead.
You Hyo Sik extended the Korean lead to 3-1 in the 32nd minute as he caught the Chinese defence napping and had an easy task of deflecting the ball into goal.
The Chinese hit back right after resumption as Yu Yang scored off a melee in the 37th minute, but the Koreans went on to score two more goals to hold off any fightback from the Chinese.
Yoon Sung Hoon scored in the 39th minute while Lee Seung-il added the fifth in the 46th minute.
The Chinese kept fighting and Mung Jun reduced the deficit in the 59th minute.
Results from the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup mens field hockey preliminary round match here Monday.
South Korea 5 (Cho Suk-hoon 25, Nam Hyun-woo 29, You Sik-hyo 32, Yoon Sung-hoon 39, Lee Seung-il 46), China 3 (Sun Long 3, Yu Yang 37, Meng Jun 59)
H-t 3-1
Australia 3 ( Trent Milton 38, Christopher Ciriello 40, Mark Peterson 69), India 4 (Tushar Khander 19, 33, Rajpal Singh 22, Shivender Singh 61)
H-t 0-3
Malaysia 5 (Azlan Misron 24, 41, Faisal Saari 33, Mohamed Amin Rahim 40, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin 56), Egypt 0
H-t 2-0
