India today ended their 10-year wait for continental triumph beating a gutsy Malaysia 2-1 in the final of the Asia Cup Hockey Championship — their third title in the tournament’s history. India, which won the Asia Cup last time in 2007 in Chennai, scored from field efforts through Ramandeep Singh (3rd minute) and Lalit Upadhyay (29th) to dash the hopes of Malaysia, who were in sunmmit clash for the first time.
The ever-improving Malaysians, however, fought valiantly and didn’t give up for a single minute. Their efforts bore fruit in the 50th minute when Shahril Saabah pulled one goal back. The Indians, ranked sixth in the world, were in for nervous last 10 minutes as Malaysia went full throttle for an equaliser. But the Indian defence were equal to the task and did well enough to hold onto their slender lead.
