Muscat [Oman], Oct 29 : Indian and Pakistan were declared as the joint winners of the fifth edition of the men’s Asian Champions Trophy here on Sunday after the final of the competition was abandoned due to bad weather conditions. India was looking to defend their title, which they won back in Malaysia in 2016 when they beat arch-rivals Pakistan 3-2 in the final. However, weather conditions in Muscat played spoilsport as heavy rainfall made it difficult for both the teams to start the final here at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
World No. 5 India had earlier secured their passage through to the final after remaining undefeated in the competition with five wins and a draw in their six matches; defeating hosts Oman 11-0, Pakistan 3-1, Japan 9-0, drawing 0-0 against Malaysia, and South Korea 4-1 in the round robin stages. India bettered Japan again with a margin of 3-2 in the semi-final.
The Indian team was also the highest scoring team in the competition as they scored a total of 30 goals in six matches, coming from 11 different goalscorers. India’s Harmanpreet Singh scored the most goals for his team with six goals, while forwards Mandeep Singh and Dilpreet Singh scored five each. Earlier on Sunday, it was Malaysia who finished at the third place as they defeated Japan 3-2 in the penalty shootout after the scores remained 2-2 at the end of regulation time in the bronze medal match of the competition.
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