India march into Azlan Shah final

India will take on Korea in the final on Sunday. India have made six appearances in the final of the tournament before this and ended up on the winning side on four occasions — in 1985,1991,1995 and 2009.

Contrary to the result,India were made to struggle in the first half by the Egyptians and were denied the lead till the 34th minute when Mahadik flicked in from their sixth penalty corner. Though the Indian forwards attacked relentlessly from the start,they found the Egyptian defence hard to breach at the start. However,the opener seemed to open the floodgates for the Indians. Mahadik struck again in the 40th and 42nd minutes after Arjun Halappa and Shivendra Singh won India short corners.

Skipper Rajpal joined the party in the 44th minute,scoring from a Bharat Chikara pass. Drag-flicker Rupinder Pal then scored his first goal for the senior team when he beat Mabrouk to his left in the 48th minute from India’s tenth penalty corner. That was followed by Khandker finding the mark in the next minute. Egypt pulled one back against the run of the play in the 68th minute through Abd El Hakim Ahmed.

Sarvanjit Singh completed India’s tally just seconds from the hooter.

Women start with win

A hat-trick from Rani Rampal helped the Indian women’s team beat hosts New Zealand 3-2 in the first game and go one up in the five-match hockey test series at the Endeavour Trust Twin Turfs in Palmerston North. The second game of the series will be played on Sunday at the same venue.