The Indian team is at the top of the group standings and will play the final against Belgium on Sunday
Malaysia, November 29, 2025: In a high-scoring encounter, the Indian Senior Men’s Hockey Team defeated Canada 14-3 to top the pool standings and reach the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup here on Saturday. India had only lost to Belgium by one goal earlier in the tournament and were optimistic after a sensational 3-2 win against New Zealand in their previous match.
The match started with an early goal from Nilakanta Sharma in the fourth minute, followed by a 10e minute goal from Rajinder Singh, who has been doing well since his senior debut. It was an exciting start to the game, with Canada responding to the initial goals by creating and even converting PCs. In the 11e minute, almost shortly after Rajinder’s goal, Brendan Guraliuk converted a fine PC. In the following minutes, two more goals were scored through Jugraj Singh and Amit Rohidas in the boxe and 15e minute respectively.
This 4-1 lead put India in good stead to build on their second quarter performance. With the senior stars in the team rested for this tournament, the onus to overachieve fell to the younger players and they did well to keep the pressure off the Canadian defense. This quarter continued a string of goals, with Rajinder scoring inside the 24e minute, Dilpreet Singh in the 25e minute and Jugraj scored his second goal in the 26e minute.
India led 7-1 and were unstoppable, but Canada entered the third quarter with slight changes to their attack that led to a penalty shot in the 35th minute.e minute. Matthew Sarmento made no mistake as he pumped it into the post to make the score 7-2, still in India’s favour. Meanwhile, Jugraj scored his hat-trick in the quarter when he struck inside the 39e minute, and Selvam Karthi scored in the 43rd minute to extend India’s lead to a huge 9-2.
The last quarter was just a formality, but this is the moment when maximum goals were scored and both teams raised the bar. Six goals were scored in this quarter. It all started with Amit Rohidas’ PC in the 1946se minute followed by Jugraj’s penalty conversion in the 50th minute. Both teams continued to trade PCs and Canada eventually scored as well, with Jyothswaroop Sidhu’s goal making the score 3-11. Sanjay put his name on the scoresheet with his goal in the 56e minute after a penalty, while Abhishek scored a double in the 57e and 59e minute to end proceedings on a high, winning 14-3.