02 December,2011 08:38 AM IST | | A Correspondent
Drag-flickers Sandeep Singh, Raghunath shine as India beat Malaysia 5-4 to make Champions Challenge semis
Drag-flicker Vokaliga Raghunath slammedu00a0 home a well-placed penalty corner golden goal to beat Malaysia 5-4 and take India into the semi-finals of the Champions Challenge here tournament.
Two good: India drag-flicker Sandeep Singh
Raghunath sent a crisp low pushu00a0 into the left corner of the goal after India rallied from two goals down to level the tense last eight encounter 4-4 and send it into extra-time.
u00a0
Drag-flicker V Raghunath
Senior drag-flicker Sandeep Singh earlier converted two successive penalty corners, in the sixth and 23rd minutes, to give India a 2-0 lead before Malaysia staged a remarkable rally and controlled proceedings for the better part of the match thereafter.
Malaysia's Izwan Firdaus scored a field goal in the 33rd minute for both teams to enter the lemon break with the score reading 2-1. Azlan Misron then got the equaliser off a flick in the 42ndu00a0u00a0 minute beating the Indian defence all ends up.
The Malaysians added a third, off a counter attack in the 46th minute that saw Tengku Ahmed tap in for 3-2. Misron then added another to his tally, off a penalty corner as India looked to be down and out at 0-2.
But in the last 10 minutes India went on an all-out attack and were rewarded with close chances, first Yuvraj Walmiki tapoped in from close range and then SV Sunil scoring off a penalty corner rebound.
India meet South Africa next while Argentina will play Belgium in the other semi-final.
