Hosts Malaysia won the inaugural Sultan of Johor Cup in 2011, edging out Australia 3-2 on golden goal
India returned empty-handed after losing 3-4 to Korea in the bronze medal play-off tie at the 2011 edition – Korean captain Yang Ji Hun struck the golden goal in the closing moments of first half of extra-time
The India-Korea bronze medal play-off tie in the 2011 Sultan of Johor Cup was as exciting as it could get – Indian goalie Naveen Kumar saved a penalty stroke in the final minute of play to force the game into extra time
At the 2011 edition – India had led Korea 4-0 at half-time in the league phase but stunningly let in six goals in the second half to lose the match 4-6.
At the 2011 edition India played with ten players for most part against Malaysia in an ill-tempered tie and paid the price losing the game 1-5 – winger Talwinder Singh was red-carded in the ninth minute for hitting a Malaysian player and their woes were compounded further when defender Harpreet Singh was shown the red card with just five seconds remaining on the clock
Malak Singh was the top goal-scorer for India in the 2011 edition – pumping in 5 goals – he was kept a standby in the 2012 and 2013 editions
Indian hockey’s rising star Mandeep Singh, who made his senior international debut this year, showed his class, scoring twice in the first ten minutes of play against eventual 2012 champions Germany, when the Blueshirts upstaged them 3-1 in league before losing 2-3 to them in the final
Manpreet Singh will be leading India for the second time in the 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup – he earlier captained the side in the 2012 edition
Three Indian players – Amit Rohidas and Satbir Singh and Talwinder Singh will be featuring in the 2013 Sultan of Johor Cup for the third time
India’s biggest win in this event has been their 5-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the 2011 edition
Former Indian speedy winger Mukesh Kumar was the team’s coach at the 2011 edition
India’s biggest loss in this event has been their 4-6 loss to Korea in the 2011 edition
Argentina and England will be playing in the Sultan of Johor Cup for the first time – they replaced Australia and New Zealand who featured in the first two editions
Drag-flicker Gurjinder Singh led India at the 2011 edition, while Devinder Walmiki was his deputy
India remained unbeaten in the league phase at the 2012 edition before they lost to Germany in the final
Indian senior team midfielder Kothajit Singh was the vice captain at the 2012 edition
Former Indian speedy winger Mukesh Kumar was reprimanded by the Tournament Director for not following the code of conduct – he did not attend the mandatory press briefing in a few games
Current national team assistant coach Baljit Singh Saini was the coach at the 2012 edition
Germany replaced Korea at the 2012 edition – all five teams of the 2011 edition – India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand took part in the 2012 edition
This piece was published in Sportskeeda
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