At the half, the Indian men’s hockey team was down 3-1 to Malaysia, but they rallied to win 4-3.
In the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 final, played on Saturday at Chennai’s Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, the Indian men’s hockey team recovered a two-goal deficit to defeat Malaysia 4-3.
With this victory, India surpassed Pakistan, the three-time champion, as the Asian Champions Trophy’s most successful team.
Goals for Malaysia came from Abu Kamal Azrai (14′), Razie Rahim (18′), and Aminudin Muhamad (28′), whereas India’s goals came from Jugraj Singh (9′), Harmanpreet Singh (45′), Gurjant Singh (45′), and Akashdeep Singh (56′).
9 worldwide Malaysia got off to a strong start in their first Asian Champions Trophy final and had more invasions in the first five minutes.
Soon after, Karthi Selvam coerced a foul from the Malaysian defense to win India’s first penalty corner, and India, now rated fourth in hockey, settled down and made a breakthrough.
Jugraj Singh took the shot and sent a strong shot to the right of the Malaysian goalkeeper as Harmanpreet Singh was off the field to give India a 1-0 lead.
Malaysia’s aggressive approach and careful attention paid off when Hasan Azuan used the umpire’s advantage to his advantage and connected with Abu Kamal Azrai in the circle in the 14th minute. Abu Kamal Azrai flicked the ball over Pathak to turn around India’s advantage.
India received their second penalty corner on the cusp of the first quarter, but they were unable to take advantage of the circumstance.
The Malaysian hockey team turned up the heat in the second half. For the first time in the competition, India found themselves two goals down when Malaysia took advantage of holes in the Indian defense and scored twice through four penalty corners.
In the 18th minute, Razie Rahim, Malaysia’s all-time leading scorer, made it 2-1, and two minutes before halftime, Aminudin Muhamad’s drag-flick made it 3-1.
India, while scoring fewer goals, enjoyed 56% of the first-half possession and had nine circle penetrations compared to Malaysia’s seven.
India chased the game quite hard in the third period. Malaysia resisted the pressure to deny India a big opportunity up to the very last second, when India launched a tremendous counterattack after Malaysia’s botched penalty corner convert.
A Malaysian defender fouled Sukhjeet Singh from behind as a result of his great run, giving India a penalty shot. Harmanpreet Singh, the team’s captain and the competition’s top scorer with nine goals, hammered the ball into the top corner of the net to reduce the deficit.
With 30 seconds left, Harmanpreet Singh was once more at the center of the action, starting India’s attempt to tie the score by cutting inside the box and passing to Karthi Selvam. After Sukhjeet Singh and Karthi Selvam combined, Gurjant Singh scored the equalizer.
Malaysia changed its approach over the past three months. Malaysia tried to take the lead once more from the depths of defense. In contrast, India was able to turn the tables thanks to a goal by Akashdeep Singh in the 56th minute.
Malaysia was reduced to 10 men for the final four minutes of the game as a result of Hasan Azuan’s five-minute suspension.
In the last minutes, India attempted to increase their lead by capitalizing on the momentum. Nevertheless, India won the match 4-3 in the end.
India earlier defeated the incumbent Asian Games winners Japan to win the league stage of the competition with four wins and a draw. They beat Japan 5-0 in the semifinals.
India previously won the Asian Champions Trophy in 2011 and 2016, which is played every two years by Asia’s top six teams. They shared the trophy with Pakistan in 2018 after rain in Muscat, Oman, ruined the match.
The Indian hockey team’s following competition will be the Asian Games 2023, which get underway on September 23 in Hangzhou, China.
Women’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey winners
| Year | Winner | Runner up |
| 2017 | India | China |
| 2018 | South Korea | India |
| 2021 | Japan | South Korea |
| 2022 | Japan | South Korea |
