India beat Malaysia 2-1, lift first Hockey Asia Cup title in 10 years

India last won the title in 2007 in Chennai. India are now tied with Pakistan as the second most successful team in the tournament, behind South Korea. The Koreans have won it four times.

Courtesy: PTI

And we have wishes and congratulatory messages pouring in. Here are few samples:

WE ARE CHAMPIONS! Congrats @TheHockeyIndia for winning the #AsiaCup2017 title for the third time! May the victories keep coming! #INDvMAS pic.twitter.com/gSqscnoBsd — Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) October 22, 2017

Congratulations Champions.
Asia Cup Champions , hamara Hindustan. Wonderful effort to beat Malaysia 2-1 pic.twitter.com/DdoTeMDqrN — Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 22, 2017

.@TheHockeyIndia Team has once again made us proud.
Congratulations to the team & the support staff. Phenomenal win. #AsiaCup2017 #INDvMAL https://t.co/EVHNppxUhU — Praful Patel (@praful_patel) October 22, 2017

Congratulations ! Indian Hockey Men team won Asia Cup 2017 @TheHockeyIndia @manpreetpawar07 @16Sreejesh — Poonam Rani Malik 15 (@PoonamHockey) October 22, 2017

Congratulation team @TheHockeyIndia ..... great win ..#champion #AsiaCup2017 — sreejesh p r (@16Sreejesh) October 22, 2017

Wow! Congrats to @TheHockeyIndia#AsiaCupHockey — Mayanti Langer Binny (@MayantiLanger_B) October 22, 2017

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It started the final on a cautious note, but a chance presented itself as early as the third minute. Ramandeep Singh pounced on the chance after SV Sunil made the first move to crack the Malaysian defence.

Malaysians, playing their first final, managed to create chances but Indian defence was resolute as ever. Then, in the 29th minute, Lalit Upadhayay connected produced a perfectly-timed dive to connect a cross.

That's enough for India. A two-goal cushion was however reduced with an opportunistic Shahril Saabah goal in the 50th minute. Then, India played out the remaining ten minutes with skipper Manpreet Singh leading the defensive line with command.

India last won the title in 2007. India are now tied with Pakistan as the second most successful team in the tournament, behind South Korea. The Koreans have won it four times.

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FULL-TIME

Fourth quarter (IND 2 - 1 MAL)

60th min. Skipper Manpreet to the fore as he takes the long ball down cooly and kills off the time. Fist title in ten years for India.

59th min. Manpreet Singh, deliberately or not, clears the ball. Then, from the following the play, a crash ball almost finds the equaliser for Malaysia.

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58th min. Desperate for the equaliser, Malaysians sacrificed their goalkeeper and fields all 11 outfield players. Stick check, that's what Malaysians are calling for the yellow card. Sumit, lucky. His knee drops and umpires check if the young Indian player did it deliberately or not. No deliberate action, is the call. Malaysia win the free-hit from another foul but lose the referral.

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56th min. India are out of the referrals, but Akashdeep forgets it. He goes straight to umpire Michihiko Watanabe, but the Japanese umpire calms him down. Then, on the Malaysian counter, Varun panicked and PC to the attackers. His bid to control the long ball was amateurish, to say the least. Looking away from the flight of the ball, and you paid the price. Ball lands in his foot.

54th min. India seem to have cracked under the pressure, lose possession in a childish fashion, couple of times. Even Sardar Singh looks out of sorts while defending. Meanwhile. Indian goalie takes just the perfect time-out needed by his outfield players. Unstrapping his pads, cooling himself down. Moments ago, he was left exposed one on one with Tengku Tajuddin. Luckily for India, there was a foot foul.

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50th min. GOAL for Malaysia. India challenges it. But it remains. Malaysia are back in the match. Credit to Shahril Saabah for keeping his cool to tap in the rising ball from a Indian deflection.

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49th min. SV Sunil opts to go solo and he's floored inside the Malaysian circle. No worries though. Gets up promptly and joined the play. On a decent build-up, Fitri Saari fails to trap a perpendicular pass. Could have been a decent chance.

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47th min. Ramandeep starts the proceedings from the centre, then soon concede a PC to Malaysia even as a furious Surender Kumar shows his anger to the umpire. He was blocking the Malaysian player. Faizal Saari just misses the target by a whisker. What a good attempt from the diminutive drag-flicker.

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Third quarter (IND 2 - 0 MAL)

45th min. Anxious moments just outside the India circle, but India do well to clear the danger. Hooter!

44th min. Ramandeep picks up a pin-point pass, then spins before going for the goal. Just missed by a whisker.

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43rd min. Another brilliant move from the Indians. Lalit, who's running through the circle, gets checked by three Malaysian defenders but no call from the umpire.

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42nd min. Lalit, then, gets a relatively easy chance to increase the lead, but his swing to meet the bouncing ball goes awry. Kumar Subramaniam, however, manages well to block Jugraj who's also going for the ball.

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40th min. Saqtbir makes a mess of his run, tangling the stick between his legs and SV Sunil turns with a realistically goal-scoring chance inside the Malaysian circle.

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38th min. Malaysia get back-to-back attacks with Shahril Saabah leading the charge. Forced to check the backline, Sardar Singh bravely pulls the ball out of danger zone.

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36th min. Huge moment with India almost hitting the plank for the third time. More than enough body inside the Malaysian circle, at least four, but none of them managed to get to the ball.

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34th min. Moments later, Ramandeep, on his free role, gets a nasty deflection hit his shin while going for a loose ball. On the other end, Malaysia make a mess of their chance, losing the ball on the byline.

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32nd min. Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin fails to keep the ball in play after a cross-field cross tries to reach him. Then, Ramandeep Singh presses hard, winning a long corner. One of the Malaysian players could have ended with a card after his flailing stick obstructs an India.

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FIRST-HALF

Second quarter (IND 2 - 0 MAL)

30th min. After conceding the second goal, Malaysia continue to probe the India defence. But India are too good. Hooter!

29th min. Defensive lapse from Razie Rahim allows India breach the pocket in the near corner. But India fail to create a chance. Then, from the following play, Lalit times his slide perfectly to connect the cross and GOAL! 

26th min. Malaysia, meanwhile, get their own chance. Then India responds with a swift counter. Akashdeep, one on one with the Malaysia goalie, goes for a direct hit. But there's a good save. PC for India. Wasted.

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25th min. Old wily foxes, Sardar Singh and SV Sunil combine well in front of the Malaysia box; but the final move fails to create the desire chance.

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23rd min. PC for India, thanks to Ramandeep Singh's brilliant stick work on the turn. No challenge. Clear call. Chinglensana stops the ball in the first castle, then Harmanpreet's drag-flick hits the target but deflected from a stick. Long corner for India.

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21st min. SV Sunil wins the ball on the left flank, then makes an inroad in the opposition half. But somehow, Malaysians got a crash ball with Faizal Saari missing the target. Huge moment.

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18th min. Manpreet Singh wins the ball near the near corner and launches a swift attack involving Chinglensana and Harmanpreet, but to avail...

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17th min. India looking to find the chink in the Malaysian defence. After conceding that early goal, Malaysians have managed to play on a high level, challenging the Indians.

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First quarter (IND 1 - 0 MAL)

15th min. Last move of the quarter from the Indians.

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14th min. PC for Malaysia with Ramandeep trapping the ball with his foot. Sardar Singh gets a good move running but, he fails to connect the minus and Malaysians are on it.

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12th min. India get another probing move, but the Malaysians responded in style, with a counter-attack.

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10th min. Azri Hassan furiously makes his complaint heard to the umpire. He claims that there's a 'foot' as he crosses a ball inside the Indian circle. Umpire called it a high ball thus declaring it a dangerous ball. Sardar Singh's the player in the target here.

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7th min. Good period of play for the Malaysians, but Gurjant Singh wins a ball in the midfield duel. But the two-time champions fail to make the most out of the move.

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5th min. Malaysia challenge a PC call, and it proved a good one. Umpire thought it was a dangerous ball with the ball getting deflected from an Indian cross.

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3rd min. GOAL! Perfect start for India as Ramandeep Singh slots home the first goal from a defensive error. Brilliant.

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2nd min. It takes a couple of minutes for India to have a go at the Malaysian goal. Not the typical penetration, but a good sign.

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17:05 pm IST: 

Here’s Team India’s XI for the grand finale vs Malaysia in the #HeroAsiaCup 2017 (Men) on 22nd Oct. #INDvMAS

Star Sports & Hotstar pic.twitter.com/TFfMwjc6as — Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 22, 2017

16:41 pm IST: Here are the 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

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16:30 pm IST: Unbeaten India are going for their third Asia Cup title today.

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New Delhi: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 10th Hockey Asia Cup final between India and Malaysia, being played in Dhaka.