SOJC: AUSTRALIA EDGE INDIA 2-1 TO LIFT SOJC FOR THIRD TIME

JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Last edition's runner-up, Australia, emerged as champions of the 13th Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC) International Hockey Tournament 2024 edition after defeating India 2-1 at the Johor Hockey Stadium, here, tonight.

The victory marks the third championship for the Burras squad after emerging as champions in the 2016 and 2017 editions, thus denying India's ambition to add to their collection of a fourth championship.

In tonight's final, Ian Grobbelaar became the hero for Australia by scoring two goals, both from penalty corners, to ensure his team’s victory.

Jay Stacy's charges opened the scoring as early as the 13th minute through a penalty corner taken by Grobbelaar to put the Burras ahead.

However, the Indian team quickly equalised in the second quarter when E. Anmol converted a penalty corner in the 17th minute, beating the Australian goalkeeper, Magnus McCausland.

Entering the third quarter, both teams failed to add to the score despite having opportunities through several penalty corners until the end of the period.

The winning goal for the Burras finally came in the fourth quarter when Ian Grobbelaar's powerful push found the back of the Indian net in the 59th minute, thus ensuring the 2-1 victory remained until the end of the match.

The Chairman of the Johor State Youth and Sports, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Committee, Hairi Mad Shah, presented the 13th edition SOJC championship trophy to the Australian team.

Meanwhile, Ian Grobbelaar was named the best player, while Pakistan's Sufyan Khan was the top scorer with nine goals overall, and Magnus Mccausland from Australia was selected as the best goalkeeper.

In the match earlier this afternoon, Great Britain finished in third place after defeating Pakistan 3-2, while the national junior squad ended the competition in fifth place after defeating New Zealand 5-3.

A total of six countries competed in this year's Under-21 championship, and the last time Malaysia won the SOJC was in 2011, which was the first edition of the tournament.

-- BERNAMA