CHENNAI: Were you not entertained? In a frankly ridiculous final between Malaysia and India — seven goals, penalty stroke, cards, fights... basically the whole nine yards — the hosts prevailed in a fashion that will make several Kollywood writers borrow ideas for years to come.
The blue touch paper was lit in the dying embers of a third quarter which descended into mayhem after India were awarded a stroke with less than one minute remaining. Harmanpreet Singh duly converted. Less than 20 seconds later, the Men In Blue came charging again and equalised, Gurjant Singh just about finishing from close range. 1-3 had become 3-3 in a few blinks of an eye and the sound inside the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium resembled the ones fans generally make outside theatres ahead of star releases.
They had one more attack in the third stanza but ran out of time. The question was would they run out of momentum in the final quarter? The answer was no. They kept coming at Malaysia who were tiring after making all the running in the first 30 minutes. The end result was conceding a string of penalty corners. While India didn't capitalise, they needn't have worried as Akashdeep Singh finished from just inside the D. After that, the World No. 4, who last jointly-held this title in 2018 with Pakistan, managed to do what they had seldom done in the match — frustrate the visitors.
It began all so serenely for the hosts. They had little complaints when Jugraj Singh powered a drag-flick past the keeper to make it 1-0 in the 9th minute. Strangely enough, they were just about beginning to lose their grip. Malaysia began running in behind the Indian defence and were also getting them to engage in battles in their half of the turf. After coming out victorious in those one-on-one confrontations, they had a lot of joy. The Indian management couldn't stem the rot and the second quarter saw them score two more goals. 3-1. It quietened the crowd, some of whom had occupied their seats well before the final.
Then, Craig Fulton's India became Graham Reid's India for the third quarter. Reid's India loved to play fast attacking hockey. Some of the matches Reid presided resembled a game of basketball because of that very reason and Saturday night under the Chennai lights wasn't far off from being one.
That said chaos peaked in the last minute of the third quarter. After Sukhjeet Singh earned the hosts a stroke, Harmanpreet converted. Then, Gurjant profited from a goalmouth scramble. They had other chances to score earlier in the quarter but their composure let them down. Luckily for them, Akashdeep wasn't to be denied.