India booked a place in the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019 with a 7-3 win over Canada in a goal-laden league match on Wednesday at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium, Ipoh. India's place in the final was confirmed after Korea defeated host Malaysia 2-1 in the final match of the day. India and Korea are the two undefeated teams in the tournament with ten points each and will face off in the final on Saturday.
Following a dominant 4-2 win over host Malaysia on Tuesday, India was quickly out of the blocks and went close through Simranjeet Singh and Shilanand Lakra.
In the 12th minute, dragflicker Varun Kumar opened the scoring from India's first penalty corner to end the first quarter 1-0.
The Manpreet Singh-led team maintained the pressure in the second quarter and in the 20th minute, Mandeep Singh latched on to Sumit Kumar's through ball and finished it past the Canadian keeper to make it 2-0. Canada looked out of ideas as the Indians launched wave of attacks forcing goalkeeper Antoni Kindler to be on high alert.
However, the Canadian custodian was unable to save Mandeep Singh's goal in the 27th minute when he latched on to a pass from Kothajit Singh. The 24-year-old completed his hat-trick two minutes later after some good work from Sumit Kumar as India went into the lemon break leading 4-0.
In the third quarter, Canada managed to open its account through a penalty corner strike from Mark Pearson in the 35th minute. However, Amit Rohidas added another goal in the 39th minute from a corner to make it 5-1.
Both teams threw everything they had in the final quarter as four goals were scored. Goals from Fin Boorthroyd (50') and James Wallace (57') reduced the deficit for Canada, but a 56th-minute strike by Vivek Sagar and a field goal from Nilakanta Sharma in the 58th minute made sure that India won the match by a difference of four goals.
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