V R Raghunath slammed a golden goal in the last minute of extra-time as India beat Malaysia 5-4 in a thrilling match to advance to the semifinals of the Champions Challenge hockey tournament on Friday. Raghunath sent a low shot into the left corner of the goal after a late recovery saw India level 4-4 in regulation period of the action-packed quarterfinal encounter. India will now meet in the semifinal on Saturday hosts South Africa who prevailed over Japan 3-2 in another quarterfinals. South Africa surged to a three-goal lead before Japan rallied to pull back two in the second half,but the equaliser eluded them. In the encounter with Malaysia,the Indian goal had two narrow shaves in sudden-death extra-time when breakaway moves saw strikers Faizal Saari and Izwan Firdaus in one-on-one position with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh,but delayed shots by the home side players allowed India stay in the contest. The Indians were ahead 2-0 before Malaysia struck back to slam four goals. Then,the desperate Indians scored twice in the last six minutes of the regulation period to take the game into extra-time. Sandeep Singh converted two successive penalty corners,in the sixth and 23rd minutes to give India a 2-0 lead before Malaysia staged a remarkable rally and controlled the game until the 64th minute. Izwan Firdaus opened Malaysia's scoring with a field goal in the 33rd minute off a pass from Azlan Misron and India were leading 2-1 at half-time. Misron got he Malaysian equaliser in the 42nd minute as he flicked past a crowded defence and over the Indian goalkeeper. Malaysia's third goal came on a breakaway move in 46th minute that caught the Indian defence off-guard. Goalkeeper Sreejesh blocked the first shot from Tengku Ahmed who then slammed the board with a firm shot on the rebound. Misron scored his second goal from Malaysia's second penalty corner,deflecting Amin Rahim's shot in a set-piece execution in the 56th minute.
