Dhanraj guides India into play-off

India finished the seven-team round robin in third spot with nine points and will take on hosts Malaysia in the classification match to decide the third and fourth places. European champions Germany will play New Zealand to decide the fifth and sixth positions.

Defending champions Pakistan, who have already made it to the final against Korea, continued their unbeaten run with a 2-1 verdict over Canada in their last round robin match.

India would have been a goal up in the first minute but Pillay’s hit was blocked by Kiwi goalkeeper Scott Anderson. Their first penalty corner came in the third minute but Dilip Tirkey’s shot was also blocked by Anderson.

New Zealand took the lead when Jude Menezes padded up to a penalty corner conversion, but the rebound was picked up by Parag and flicked in.

India pulled out all stops, Saini and Riaz virtually dominating the midfield and sending some lovely long passes to the forwards. One of these moves resulted in India earning their second penalty corner in the 26th minute. Dhillon passed to Deepak Thakur, who deflected in for the equaliser.

The Kiwis protested that the ball had touched Thakur’s foot. Umpire Irfan Zaidi consulted Malaysian umpire, Ravinderpal, before allowing the goal.

Immediately afterwards, Saini made a great move down the middle and passed to Thakur in the circle. Thakur’s shot was padded by Anderson but Pillay slotted in the rebound.

The second half saw India surprisingly defending. But they missed a golden chance to equalise in the 50th minute, when Creg Russ scooped over a penalty stroke awarded after Parag was stick-checked by Tirkey.

Other results: Pakistan 2 (Imran Yousuf, Muhammad Sarwar) bt Canada 1 (Sean Campbell); S Korea 5 (Yeo Woon Kon 3, Jeong Jong Ha, Kang Keong Wook) bt Malaysia 4 (Kuhan Shanmuganathan 2, Chairil 2)