Two goals from Nikkin Thimmaiah helped India down Malaysia 4-2 in a round robin encounter of the Four-Nations Invitational tournament in Melbourne on Thursday. The win keeps India’s hopes alive in the tournament, having lost the opener to Australia on Wednesday.
India scored two goals in the final quarter to clinch victory and earn their first points of the tournament. Earlier, India took the lead through Thimmaiah in the second quarter, with Malaysia equalising just nine minutes later. India wrestled back the lead immediately after, with Rupinder Pal Singh converting a penalty corner.
The Asian champions failed to extend their lead in the third quarter after missing a few easy chances. Malaysia punished India with an equaliser just two minutes into the final quarter. Thimmaiah, then, once again showed tremendous finishing prowess with a powerful shot from the top of the circle to hand back India the lead. Akashdeep Singh nicked another goal four minutes from time to seal the win.
Result:
India 4 (Nikkin Thimmaiah x 2, Rupinder Pal Singh, Akashdeep Singh) beat Malaysia 2 (Faizal Saari, Shahril Saabah)