CHENNAI: It took 10 days, a dogged Malaysian team and a passage of free-flowing hockey from a fired-up Indian team for the Men's Asian Champions Trophy to come to life.
India vs Malaysia: As it happened
It was 1-0 India, then 1-1, 2-1 Malaysia, 3-1 Malaysia, 3-2 Malaysia, 3-3 India and finally 4-3 India; but the hockey that Chennai saw in the final on Saturday from the point Malaysia led 3-1 is how India introduced themselves once again to the world as the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists for a reason.
The 'Men in Blue' wore the Asian Champions Trophy crown once again to become the toast of the country, and the emotion that hockey manages to invoke in the country was felt once again.
Chennai couldn't have asked for a better finale to mark the return of international hockey to Tamil Nadu.
Jugraj Singh (9th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (45th), Gurjant Singh (45th) and Akashdeep Singh (56th) got on the scoresheet for India, while Abu Kamal Azrai (14th), Rahim Razie (18th) and Muhamad Aminudin (18th) were the Malaysian goal-scorers.
When nervous faces in the stands felt it was getting a bit too late for a comeback, the 9000-strong crowd decided to join each other and cheer 'India, India' in unison to get behind their team. It worked, and how!
ACT champions over the years
The 45th minute included 30 seconds of magic that first saw an inspired India counter ending in a push on Sukhjeet Singh from behind, which gave India a penalty stroke that Harmanpreet scored off, and then Gurjant's field effort off another turnover put India level at 3-3 to mark the end of the third quarter.
The DJ joined in to further fire up the crowd and the Indian team during the two-minute break, and the stands shook when the fans sang the famous AR Rahman number 'maa tujhe salam' in one voice.
Four minutes 30 seconds from full-time, Akashdeep Singh showed his experience when he pounced onto a ball in the striking circle and deposited it in the net, leading to a deafening roar that never lost its decibels until the final whistle.
When India trailed 3-1, former Pakistan international Adnan Zakir tweeted his quick analysis of the game at that point from his home in London, which proved prophetic.
"Malaysians are playing too deep, India going to score in a few minutes," he tweeted.
The Malaysians made the mistake of sitting in defence, trying to defend their lead and attack whenever they get a chance to launch a counter. India played smart, as they peppered the Malaysia circle with relentless attacks that invited mistakes which the Indian team took advantage of.
India coach summed it up and agreed that those 30 seconds where India scored two goals to equalise deflated the Malaysian teams, who then looked to be playing for a draw and take the game to the shootout lottery.
"Malaysia raised their game and got in control in the first half. We didn't do badly, but we were not 100% committed to what we were trying to do," said Fulton, who enjoyed his first triumph in a multi-team tournament as India's chief coach.
"Half-time came at a good time, we regrouped and I think the third and fourth quarter really showed that. I knew if we could get one goal, we could get two," he added. "But it took a really key moment from goal 2 to 3. I think that took a lot of the wind out of the Malaysian sails in a sense and then it was just a matter of time to try and get the winner."
List of Tournament Awards:
Fan Choice Award for Best Goal: Selvam Karthi
Maximum Team Goals Award: India (29 goals)
Emerging Player Award: Abdul Shahid (Pakistan)
Best Rising Goalkeeper Award: Takumi Kitagawa (Japan)
Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Kim Jaehyeon (South Korea)
Top Scorer: Harmanpreet Singh (9 goals)
Hero of the Tournament: Mandeep Singh
