New Delhi, Aug 22: Continuing their good form, India blanked Malaysia 3-0 to record their third straight victory in the Junior Challenge Open men's hockey tournament in Gniezno, Poland. The Indians dominated the match from the word go and were leading 2-0 at half time, according to a press release by the Indian hockey federation here.
They earned five penalty corners and converted two with Sandeep Singh and Vivek Gupta finding the net. Tushar Khandekar scored the third goal for India in the second half. The Indians played a defensive game in the second half as two of their players -- Nitin Kumar and Birendra Lakra -- were shown yellow cards.
The three wins on the trot in this six-nation U-21 round-robin tournament has brightened India's chances of winning the prestigious event. India had earlier scored a thumping 10-0 win against France and trounced Germany 3-0. India will take on hosts Poland tomorrow while they will lock horns with arch rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
In other matches yesterday, Poland beat France 4-1, and Pakistan beat Germany 4-2. Bureau Report