Ipoh: Post a path-breaking semi-final win against Malaysia, the men-in-blue were aiming big in the finals against the eight-time winners Australia. However, the Aussies played a highly strategic game from the start and were rewarded with a handsome victory. With this, the Australia won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for the ninth time at Ipoh on Saturday.

Equally balanced first quarter

The very first quarter of the finals of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup witnessed an equal battle between the Indians and the Australians that turned out futile at the end of the session. However, the quick encounters between the two sides saw the very first penalty corner of the game getting rewarded to Australia. Forward Tom Craig having won the penalty corner failed to capitalise on the opportunity.

Half-time celebrations for Australia (1-0)

The start of the second quarter saw the Australians come fired up to attack the Indian defence. The moment of reprisal for India came early when there were a couple of brilliant passes between forward Nikkin Thimmaiah and captain Sardar Singh, but were blocked by the solid Australian defenders. Following this, Mandeep Singh had a few more attempts, a few of them quite impressive, though, but couldn’t manage to open the scoring for the Indians. First quarter’s performer Tom Craig showed off his skills and this time got it done just right by scoring the first for Australia in the 10th minute. The Aussies maintained this lead till the end of the half-time.

… it continued for the Aussies in 3rd quarter (3-0)

Aiming to make a comeback in the game, India attacked right from the first minute of the third quarter. Owing to which, they created a chance to equalise in the very next minute in the form of a penalty corner (first for team India). And against the wishes of the Indian fans, the Australian defence took away the golden chance in a jiffy. That was it from the Indian side in this quarter as the rest of it couldn’t stop the brilliance of the Australians. First it was the goal by Tom Craig on a diving hit, few yards from the Indian goal post. Then came the spell of crisscross passes among Australian forwards and which ultimately helped Matt Gohdesas become the second goal scorer of the game. The goal came at the10th minute of the third quarter.

Final attempts by India

Though the victory for Australia was predicted at this stage of the game, India strived hard to earn some respect. But in the process of delivering the final attacks, Indian defence got a bit loose and Matt Gohdes made no mistake in capitalizing on it. The final goal of the match came in the 11th minute of the quarter, which sealed the victory for Australia in emphatic style.