Indian forward Prabhjot Singh marks a goal as Malaysian players look on during the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. (AFP Photo)
IPOH (Malaysia): India regained the Azlan Shah title after a 13-year gap, defeating hosts Malaysia 3-1 in the final of the five-nation tournament on Sunday.
Arjun Halappa (8th minute), Prabhjot Singh (20th) and Shivender Singh (41st) sounded the board for India through neatly worked out field goals, while Misron (11th) reduced the margin for the hosts.
High on confidence after their 3-0 win against Malaysia during the round-robin stage, India, who last won the tournament in 1995, started making forays into the rival half from the word go.
The Indian forwards' efforts bore fruit as early as in the eighth minute of the match when Arjun scored a field goal to give India the lead.
The lead was, however, shortlived as Misron drew parity, much to the delight of the home crowd, in 11th minute through a field goal.
Undeterred, the Indian forwards stepped up the attack and started making repeated inroads into their opponent's citadel and eventually managed to regain the lead when Prabhjot scored through another field goal nine minutes later to go into the breather 2-1.
The Indians, who last year lost in the final 1-2 at the hands of Argentina, continued to maintain the pressure on the Malaysian defence in the second session as well.
Center-forward Shivender joined the party when it mattered and made it 3-1 just six minutes after the start of the second half.
Trailing 1-3, the hosts tried hard to force their way into the match but the veteran Dilip Tirkey-led Indian defence stood firm and seemed in no mood to give Malaysia any opportunity of a comeback.
With this victory, India enjoy a 3-0 win-loss record over Malaysia in the event. The Indians last time won against the hosts way back in 1985.
India coach-in-charge Harendra Singh was delighted after guiding the team to its first triumph since he took over from Australian Ric Charlesworth.
Harendra described the victory as a much-required boost for Indian hockey and said his next target was the Asia Cup in May.
"It's a great day for Indian hockey as we are slowly getting back on our feet.
"But now it's time for us to look ahead at the Asia Cup, which will be held next month. The victory will give the players confidence ahead of future tournaments," he said after the victory.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, New Zealand pipped Pakistan 2-1 in the third-fourth place play-off match.
The Black Sticks started the proceedings at a brisk pace and sounded the board twice in a span of a minute. Richard Petherrick gave New Zealand the lead in the 12th minute and then Joel Baker doubled it in the very next minute.
Shakeel Abassi, however, pulled one back in the final seconds of the opening half to go into the lemon-break trailing 1-2.
Although, Pakistan tried hard for an equaliser in the second half, they failed to penetrate the Kiwi defence that stood firm to bag the third spot in the invitational event.
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