India’s men’s hockey team thrashed Canada 14-3 in its final round-robin fixture of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2025 in Ipoh, Malaysia on Saturday to secure a place in the final.
Defender Jugraj Singh was India’s leading scorer with four goals. He converted three Penalty Corners and added one from a penalty stroke. Abhishek, Amit Rohidas and Rajinder Singh scored two goals each, while Selvam Karthi, Nilakanta Sharma, Sanjay and Dilpreet Singh chipped in with one apiece.
Nilakanta Sharma gave an early lead to India striking in the fourth minute, followed by a 10th-minute strike by Rajinder Singh, who has been in good form since his debut in the senior side.
The Canadian hockey team, ranked 20th, won multiple penalty corners. In the 11th minute, soon after Rajinder’s goal, Brendan Guraliuk converted one of them.
India, however, hit back immediately through Jugraj Singh and Amit Rohidas in the 12th and 15th minutes, respectively.
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Rajinder scored again in the 24th minute before Dilpreet Singh added one more in the 25th minute. Jugraj scored his second goal a minute later.
Canada came into the third quarter trailing by 7-1. They converted a penalty stroke in the 35th minute through Matthew Sarmento.
Meanwhile, Jugraj scored his hat-trick in this quarter when he struck in the 39th minute, and Selvam Karthi scored in the 43rd minute to extend India’s lead to a massive 9-2.
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The final quarter saw six goals. It all began with Amit Rohidas’s penalty corner in the 46th minute, followed by Jugraj’s penalty stroke conversion in the 50th minute.
Both teams continued to trade penalty corners and Canada ended up scoring from one, with Jyothswaroop Sidhu’s goal taking the score line to 11-3.
Sanjay put his name on the scoresheet with his goal in the 56th minute after converting a penalty stroke, while Abhishek scored two quick goals in the 57th and 59th minute to make the scoreline read 14-3 at the final hooter.
With this win, India will finish in the top two on the points table irrespective of other results later in the day. The Men In Blue are likely to face Belgium in the final, the same team that handed India its only defeat in the round-robin stage.
Belgium, who have been unbeaten in this tournament, currently on 10 point. They will face New Zealand, which has seven, later on Saturday. New Zealand has an outside chance of qualifying for the final but needs a win by a margin of at least six goals.
The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2025 is the 31st edition of the tournament. It is an annual men’s invitational international field hockey tournament hosted by Malaysia. The final will be held on 30 November 2025.
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The tournament is played in a round-robin format, and only the top two teams on the points table after the round-robin stage will qualify for the Final.
Also Read: Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2025: Where To Watch For Free, Live Streaming Details
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2025 Final: Schedule
| Match | Teams | Date | Time | Venue |
| Final | India vs Belgium/ New Zealand | 30-11-2025 | 18:00 IST | Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium, Ipoh, Perak, (MAS) |
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2025 Final: Full squads
India squad: Abhishek, Chandura Boby Poovanna, Lakra Shilanand, Lalage Aditya Arjun, Moirangthem Rabichandra, Pal Raj Kumar, Pawan, Prasad Vivek Sagar, Raheel Mohammed, Rajinder Singh, Rohidas Amit, Sanjay, Selvam Karthi, Sharma Nilakanta, Shashikumar Mohith Honnenahalli, Singh Dilpreet, Singh Jugraj, Singh Maninder, Singh Sukhjeet, Siwach Yashdeep, Xess Nilam Sanjeep.
