KAKAMIGAHARA (Japan), Nov 5: Defending champions Pakistan registered their third successive victory in the Asian Champions Trophy when they edged Malaysia 1-0 on Tuesday.

Shafqat Rasool scored from a short corner a minute from time at the Gifu-ken Green Stadium as Pakistan remained the only team in the tournament to have a perfect record after three rounds.

Pakistan opened their title defence with an 8-0 hammering of Oman on Saturday with Mohammad Imran scoring a hat-trick before the skipper scored two goals in another convincing 5-1 victory over China on Sunday.

Hosts Japan lost their 100 percent record when they were crushed by China 3-1. Japan had earlier beaten Malaysia 1-0 in their first game before winning 2-1 against India.

China, meanwhile, had started their campaign with a 1-0 win against India.

India recorded their first victory of the tournament when goals by Akashdeep Singh, Talwinder Singh and Amit Rohidas gave them a 3-0 victory against winless Oman.

Pakistan face India on Thursday before finishing the round-robin stage with a clash against Japan. The top two teams at the end of the preliminary stage will contest Sunday’s final.—Agencies