India on Sunday put in yet another impressive performance by beating Malaysia 2-1 in the final to win the Asia Cup Hockey 2017 at Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium in Dhaka. Manpreet Singh-led India, who remained unbeaten in the tournament, started on a positive note and dominated till the very end to win their third Asia Cup title. India were off to a flyer as SV Sunil and Ramandeep Singh combined to give India an early lead in the third minute.
Lalit Upadhyay doubled India's advantage as he scored a superb field goal in the 29th minute. Malaysia, who had lost to India 2-6 in the league match, struck back in the final quarter to reduce India's lead but the latter managed to hold on to their advantage till the final whistle.
Earlier, India beat Pakistan 4-0 in their third Super 4s match to enter the final of the Asia Cup 2017. The sixth ranked India, who just needed a draw to seal a place in summit clash, produced a superlative performance after the change of ends to pump in four goals -- three field strikes and one through penalty corner. By virtue of this win, India not only topped the Super 4 stage with seven points, but also continued their domination over Pakistan.
This was for the seventh time that India made it to the Asia Cup final. It was India's fourth win over Pakistan this year, having beaten them twice in the Hockey World League Semi-finals in London and once in the pool stages.