India beat New Zealand 4-0 to secure the bronze medal at the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held in Malaysia on Sunday. After their shock 1-0 loss to Malaysia, the Indians effortlessly dispatched of the Black Sticks to assure themselves of a podium finish at they cruised to a comfortable win.
New Zealand had drawn 1-1 with eventual finalists Australia in their previous encounter but were completely outplayed by the men in Blue as the Kiwis were unable to halt India and in particular, Rupinder Pal Singh’s charge.
Rupinder was in the zone as he sent identical ground drag-flicks into the corner past New Zealand goalkeeper Richard Joyce’s outstretched right hand in the 17th and 27th minutes.
SV Sunil then scored his first goal of the tournament in the 48th minute as he captitalised on a cross from Mandeep Singh into the goalmouth, while Talwinder Singh rounded off India’s scoring in the last minute.
Combining well, the Indian strikers showed purpose when they moved into the rival territory, but India missed three sitters in the first quarter that ended goalless. India started with two successive penalty corners in the second minute of play, but the rushers denied Harmanpreet Singh a good look at the goal.
Captain Manpreet Singh s brilliant flair in the fifth minute saw him break into the circle down the right flank and feed a cross to Mandeep, who failed to deflect the ball toward the goal.
Rupinderpal opened the scoring on India s third penalty corner, his stinging grounder leaving the defenders gasping. In the 27th minute, Mandeep had a good run on the left flank. After charging into the circle, his cross found no takers, but an obstruction on Mandeep earned India a penalty corner. Rupinderpal’s shot on the fourth penalty corner struck a defender’s foot and another penalty corner was awarded, which he duly converted with a fine low shot.
After failing to feature in goal-scoring action in the entire tournament, Sunil finally made an entry on the score- sheet by deflecting in Mandeep’s cross from right in the 48th minute.
Talwinder Singh also got among the goal scorers for the first time in the last minute of play after picking a pass from Manpreet in the circle. Talwinder created some space for himself and sent a reverse shot into the boards.
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