Drag-flicker Dhananjay Mahadik scored a hat-trick as defending champions India crushed Egypt 7-1 to enter the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament here on Saturday.
Mahadik (34th, 40th, 42nd minutes), skipper Rajpal Singh (44th), Rupinder Pal Singh (48th), Tushar Khandker (49th) and Sarwanjit Singh (70th) scored for India in what was a must-win match, while Abd El Hakim Ahmed (68th) was the lone Egyptian goal-getter.
India will take on Korea in the summit clash on Sunday.
India were made to struggle in the first half by the Egyptians and were denied the lead till the 34th minute when Mahadik flicked from their sixth penalty corner.
Though the Indian forwards attacked relentlessly from the start, initially they hit a wall in the Egyptian defence, especially goalkeeper Mabrouk Mohamed.
The team, however, who went on the rampage after the change of ends.
Mahadik struck again with ease in the 40th and 42nd minutes after Halappa and Shivendra won India short corners.
Skipper Rajpal joined the party in the 44th minute, scoring from a Bharat Chikara pass. Young Faridkot drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh then scored his first goal for the senior team when he beat Mabrouk to his left in the 48th minute from India’s tenth penalty corner.
Khandker added the next one a minute later after combining with Rajpal.
Egypt, however, pulled one back in the 68th minute through Abd El Hakim Ahmed. Sarwanjit Singh completed India’s tally just seconds from the hooter when he pushed home after the Egyptian custodian was caught on the wrong foot.
Earlier, world champions Australia registered a comfortable 4-0 win over China in another round-robin match but it was not enough to book their place in the final. Kieran Govers (3rd and 21st) struck twice while Christopher Ciriello (50th) and Grant Schubert (51st) scored a goal each for the Kookaburras.
In another must-win encounter where either team needed by two-goal margin victory, Korea defeated Pakistan 4-2 to qualify for the final. However, the match was marred by ugly incidents which saw a red card for Pakistan captain Mohammad Imran. — PTI