New Delhi: An unbeaten India will look for their third continental title when Manpreet Singh & Co take on Malaysia in the final of the 10th Hockey Asia Cup in Dhaka on a Super Sunday.


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India, after winning back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2007 at Kuala Lumpur and Chennai respectively, have failed to add a third title. In the previous edition, India came close to achieving that feat, but lost to South Korea in the title clash in Ipoh.


For the record, Koreans are the most successful side in this tournament, having won it four times in 1994 at Hiroshima, 1999 at Kuala Lumpur, 2009 Kuantan and Ipoh four years ago.


Pakistan are second with three titles, winning the first three editions in 1982 at Karachi, 1985 in Dhaka and 1989 in New Delhi.


But this young Indian young side, with many of the roster coming from the Junior World Cup 2016 winning squad, has been brilliant and are the clear favourites in the final.


In the last Super 4 outing, India thrashed Pakistan 4-0 to qualify as the top team. India have previously beaten their arch-rivals 3-1 in a Pool A clash.


India, however, started the Super 4s in an indifferent way, salvaging a 1-1 draw with the Koreans thanks to a last-minute goal from Gurjant Singh. But, the favourites resurrected their campaign with a 6-2 mauling of Malaysia in the next outing.


Malaysia played out a 1-1 draw with the Koreans in the last Super 4 match yesterday, just after the India-Pakistan match, to book a rematch with India in the final.


They have played fearless, attacking hockey in this tournament, and have beaten Pakistan in the first Super 4 match 3-2, before losing to India.


Malaysians, a proud hockey nation with many Indian and Pakistani expatriates playing their own roles, have been there on the periphery for a long time. Their finished third in the 2007 edition, which is their best effort so far. There are more than a handful fourth-place finishes for them though.


Interestingly, tournament's two join top scorers will be seen in action today. Harmanpreet Singh and Faizal Saari are with seven goals each.


Here's everything you need to know about today's final:


Date: 22 October, 2017
Time: 5:00 pm IST
Venue: Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh


Squads:


India: Goalkeepers - Akash Chikte, Suraj Karkera; Defenders - Dipsan Tirkey, Kothajit Khadangbam, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar; Midfielders - SK Uthappa, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Chinglensana Kangujam, Sumit; Forwards - S.V. Sunil (vice-captain), Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar, Gurjant Singh, Satbir Singh


Malaysia: Haziq Samsul, Marhan Jalil, Fitri Saari, Faizal Saari, Syed Mohd Syafiq Syed Cholan, Sukri Mutalib (C), Firhan Ashaari, Nabil Fiqri, Kumar Subramaniam (GK), Razie Rahim, Faiz Helmi Jali, Azri Hassan, Meor Muhamad Azuan Hasan, Hafizuddin Othman (GK), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Nik Muhammad Aiman, Najmi Farizal Jazlan, Shahril Saabah


TV Listings


India: TV: Star Sports 2/HD
Malaysia: TV: Astro Arena/HD
Pakistan: TV: PTV
Japan: TV: TV Tokyo


Live Streaming: Hotstar


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