Defending Champs India held to a goalless draw by Malaysia

Muscat: Defending Champions India were held to a goalless draw by Malaysia in the fast-paced encounter of the Asian Champions Trophy at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex here on Tuesday.

Both India and the Asian Games silver medallists Malaysia now have 10 points each from four outings in the preliminary round-robin league, with India topping the standings on basis of a superior goal difference.

The Indian team got off to a nervy start as they wasted several scoring opportunities early in the match. They had a spate of chances early in the contest, only for Hardik Singh to fritter away a scoring opportunity, Harmanpreet Singh's penalty corner flick being blocked by the Malaysian goalkeeper and Mandeep Singh failing to get a touch on long diagonal balls twice in the first quarter.

Malaysia created one opening on a counter-attack, but mostly fell back to defend their goal against the Indian strikers.(UNI)