pada penentuan tempat ketiga dan ke empat Kejohanan Hoki Antarabangsa Bawah 21 tahun Piala Sultan Johor 2017 di Stadium Hoki Taman Daya Johor Bahru hari ini.
–fotoBERNAMA (2017) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA1
# Aussies beat Great Britain 2-0 in the final
# India outplay Malaysia 4-0 for the bronze medal
# India’s skipper Vivek Prasad is Player of the Tournament
Defending champions Australia raised their game to a new level for a 2-0 win over Great Britain in the final and retain the Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 Invitational hockey tournament at the Johor Bahru Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru on Sunday.
In the process Australia became only the second team in the six-nation tournament to have retained the title after India achieved it in 2013 and 2014. India also reached the final in 2015 but lost out to Great Britain in the shoot-out after a 2-2 draw at regulation time.
On Sunday it was Australia’s game all the way and they exacted sweet revenge on the British who beat the Australians 4-2 in the preliminary round robin match.
Australia were 1-0 up as early as the fourth minute through Joel Rintala who fired home from a penalty corner set piece. That was all the Australians needed to rattle the British who played below par in the grand finale.
Five minutes into the third quarter Australia were in the driving seat with Nathan Ephraums’ netting his ninth goal in the tournament via a field attempt.
Earlier India outgunned Malaysia 4-0 to take third place. India, parading a completely new look team with all their players playing in their first overseas tournament took a firm control of the match after skipper Vivek Prasad scored the opener in the 11th minute.
Just before the end of the first quarter India made it 2-0 through Vishal Antil. Goals by Shilanand Lakra (2st) and Vishal (25th) completed the rout.
“The first two goals destroyed us,” said Malaysia coach Wallece Tan. “Still it was a good outing overall for the team…the players are young and it was a learning experience . The exposure here will do them good.”
Meanwhile, Japan ended the tournament with a massive 11-0 win over the United States of America.BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
RESULTS
Final
Australia beat Great Britain
3rd/4th playoff
India beat Malaysia 4-0
5th/6th playoff
Japan beat USA 11-0
ROLL OF HONOUR
Man of the Match (Final)
Nathaniel Stewart (Australia)
Fairplay
United States of America
Top Scorer
Dilpreet Singh (India)
Eprahaums Nathan (Australia)
(9 goals each)
Best Goalkeeper
Chris Wyvwer (Great Britain)
Best Player of the Tournament
Vivek Prasad (India)
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