Malaysia hold India to 3-3 draw but Sardar Singh's men inch closer to final

India almost clinched the title round berth before Razie Rahim turned out to be Malaysias saviour with a hattrick in an enthralling 33 draw in a Super 4 encounter of Asia Cup hockey tournament here on SundayRahim 12th 21st 56th minutes converted three penalty corners for Malaysia while India made a valiant fightback after being two goals down scoring through Vishnukant Singh 32nd SV Sunil 53rd and Nilam Sanjeep Xess 55thIndia had earlier defeated Japan 21 in their first match on SaturdayMeanwhile in the other Super 4 league match South Korea defeated Japan 31 to move to four points South Korea had earlier drawn 22 against Malaysia in their first matchAs the Super 4s table stands South Korea with a goal difference of 2 53 are on top of the table with India GD 1 54 are placed secondJapan with two defeats have no chance of making it to the final while Malaysia GD 0 55 have an outside chance if they can beat Japan by a comprehensive margin minimum 2 goals provided India and South Korea match ends in a drawOn the day Malaysia started brightly and put the Indian defence under sustain pressureIndian goalkeeper Suraj Karkera was brought to action in the sixth minute when he made a fine save to deny Muhammad Hassans reverse hitMalaysia earned a penalty corner from the resultant move but Karkera positioned himself perfectly to keep out Faizal Saaris tryIt was all Malaysia in the first quarter as the Indian team failed to get a single shot on targetMalaysias consistent pressure secured them another penalty corner in the 12th minute and this time Rahim beat Karkera with a powerful low flick to the right bottom corner of the boardThe Indians upped their game in the second quarter and created a few chances but that didnt result in a goalMalaysia on the other hand secured another penalty corner in the 21st minute and once again Rahim was bang on target as India conceded second goal of the matchA minute later India goalie Karkera came out of his line to narrow down the angle and deny Saari from close rangeTrailing by two goals the Indians stepped up the pressure after the change of ends and pulled a goal back when Vishnukant converted from a rebound after the team got its first penalty cornerIndia secured another short corner in the third quarter but Malaysian goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman came to his sides rescueThe Men in Blue created a few more chances in the third quarter but lacked the decisive touch in the attacking thirdIndia secured backtoback penalty corners in the 49th minute but Dipsan Tirkey failed to get past Haifizuddin who was a rock under Malaysian postIndia drew level in the 53rd minute courtesy Pawan Rajbhars pivotal presence in the midfield where he snatched the ball from an opposition player and then selflessly set it up for Sunil who scored with a fierce shot from an acute angleTwo minutes later India took the lead for the first time in the match when Nilam Sanjeep converted a penalty cornerBut Indias joy was shortlived as Malaysia drew level a minute later courtesy Rahims well deserved hattrickThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever