Ipoh: India thwarted a series of late charges from Pakistan to notch up a stunning 2-1 victory over their arch-rivals and stay in contention for the title in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament here on Thursday.

Indian drag-flickers Sandeep Singh (6th minute) and Diwakar Ram (20th) rose to the occasion by scoring a goal each, while veteran Pakistan mid-fielder Mohammed Saqlain (58th) netted the lone goal for his side.

With their third straight win in the tournament, India have now garnered nine points from five matches.

The Indians were in the attacking mode from the start and Shivendra Singh led the forwardline with command producing two good chances that went abegging.

But in the sixth minute, Sandeep unleashed a power-packed shot to convert India’s first penalty corner and give his side 1-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Sandeep had another chance to shoot at the Pakistan post, but this time his attempt was rather predictable and the rival goalkeeper Rashid had no problem in palming it away.

Banking on the third short corner, Diwakar brought the second goal for India. With both Sandeep and Diwakar on guard to have a go at the goal, the Pakistanis were in doubt over whom to tackle and the younger of the drag-flickers fired his shot which hit Rashid’s shoulder before deflecting to the roof of the net.

The Pakistanis were completely off-colour in their approach. While the defenders were too cautious, the attackers were half-hearted and tentative. They wasted as many as four penalty corners in the first half.

India coach A.K. Bansal attributed the success to the mental toughness of his players.

“Normally, we are not mentally strong enough to go for a win while facing Pakistan. But, for a change, we were psychologically not down today. That’s why from the beginning we were dominating,” he said after the match.

“Once we were mentally ready, the results were there on the field. We scored early goals, put them on the defensive and had a great first half.”