PTI

Ipoh, Malaysia, Apr 9: A resurgent India blanked Malaysia 3-0 to put their Azlan Shah Cup campaign back on track and stay on course for a place in the final
of the hockey tournament.

Arjun Halappa (19th minute) and captain Sandeep Singh (31) sounded the board to put India 2-0 ahead by breather and GS Chandi then rounded off the tally with his 62nd minute strike to complete the rout.

After their 2-2 draw against a lowly Egypt in the opener, Harendra Singh's wards badly needed a win to stay afloat in the tournament and it was not a cakewalk considering Malaysia had maintained a clean slate so far, having beaten Pakistan and Egypt.

In contrast, India's performance in the drawn match against Egypt was nothing to write home about and Sandeep Singh and his men had their task cut out on Wednesday.

To their credit, the Indians showed lot of purpose on Wednesday and while they managed to bring down the Malaysian citadel thrice, their own defence did a tidy job, keeping the opponent strikers at bay.

India play New Zealand in their next match on Thursday.

After dominating the first half, the Indians tended to relax in the second session which allowed Malaysia to make a few inroads even though they could not cap the attacks.

India too got a couple of chances but the Malaysian goalkeeper did a smart job under the bar to deny them.

With four points from two matches, India are now firmly back in the race for Sunday's final with Malaysia still leading the table with six points from three outings.

Earlier, Egypt pulled off yet another surprise by holding New Zealand to a 1-1 draw.