India has been one of the best teams in the Hockey World League semifinal, playing some wonderful hockey. The competition has moved into the business end as India prepares to face Malaysia in the quarterfinal on Thursday.
There has been an element of dominance in India's display in the Hockey World League semifinal, beating teams like Pakistan, Scotland, and Canada. However, they lost to Netherlands in their last group match.
Even during their loss, India looked good but failed to convert their chances, so there is not much to worry about as they have been one of the best teams, going forward as well. This loss might prove to be positive as they will be on their toes for the rest of the competition.
There is a reason for India performing well in the competition and in the past few months as well, and India coach Roelant Oltmans needs to be given a pat on the back for the things going around with the national team. He has built a strong squad. If they manage to win this Hockey World League Semifinal, it will be a huge boost for the team.
As of now, their focus should be on defeating Malaysia. They will need their big guns to fire in the quarterfinals, and one of them being in-form Akashdeep Singh, who is the third highest goal-scorer in the ongoing tournament, with five goals.
However, it has been a complete team effort so far. All the players are playing as a unit in London, and are dominating teams. Besides Akashdeep, Ramandeep Singh and Talwinder Singh have also scored two goals.
It is not only about field goals, Harmanpreet Singh has found the back of the net thrice via penalty corners.
If India plays the quality of hockey they have been playing so in the recent months, the team should not have much problem in beating Malaysia, who will be eager to stun India. After losing to Argentina and England quite badly, Malaysia looked better as it beat South Korea and China to book their quarterfinals spot.
Malaysia is aware of the threat India brings to the table, and they might have to depend on the counter-attack to score goals.
When and where to watch live
India vs Malaysia hockey match is set to begin at 3:30 pm local time, 8 pm IST.
The Hockey World League Semifinal match will be shown live in India on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2. The online free live streaming option is on Hotstar.
Astro is the place to be to watch the match live in Malaysia.
