India lift Asia Cup 2017 after beating Malaysia 2-1 in final

October 22, 2017

India won their third Asia Cup title and first in 10 years after beating Malaysia 2-1 in the final of 2017 edition.

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India were dominant once again against Malaysia. They had beaten them 6-2 in the Super-4 stage and looked to continue in the same manner on Sunday. But, Malaysia came up with a better performance to push India to their limits. India had to survive a nerous final quarter and some tense final minutes before winning their third Asia Cup title by beating Malaysia 2-1 in the final of the 2017 edition.

Goals from Ramandeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay helped India lift their first Asia Cup title in 10 years. India last won the title in 2007 in Chennai where they beat Korea in the final. They are now level with Pakistan with three titles in the tournament history. Korea leads the race with four titles.

The final on Sunday was expected to be one-sided for world number six team India but Malaysia showed they were no pushovers. Though India got the first goal through Ramandeep in the second minute of the game, Malaysia made India work hard for the rest of the game.

Playing their first ever final of Asia Cup fought valiantly and tried to equalise most of the time. Lalit doubled India’s lead in the 29th minute which pust India closer to the title.

Malaysia, however, continued to put India under pressure and that was rewarded when Shahril Saabah pulled one goal back in the 50th minute.

Though Malaysia tried hard in the final 10 minutes to find the equaliser, the Indian defence managed to keep them away and secure the title.

Pakistan won the bronze medal in the tournament as they beat Korea 6-3 in the bronze medal play-off match earlier in the day.