India scored their first win in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament as they beat Canada 3-1 in Ipoh, Malaysia on Sunday.

New Delhi (espnstar.com) - India scored their first win in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament as they beat Canada 3-1 in Ipoh, Malaysia on Sunday.

After defeats by New Zealand and Argentina, India finally found the winning formula but not before conceding the lead to the lesser fancied North Americans.

Canada led 1-0 at the breather but India did well in the second session. Diwakar Ram scored in the 45th and 51st minutes and Shivendra Singh completed the rout in the 53rd.

After two days of lacklustre play, India finally found some design in their game. They forced nine penalty corners and could have won by a bigger margin but for the Canadian goalie Mike Mahoot, who stood like a rock.

Canada drew first blood in the 9th minute from their second short corner. Wayne Fernandez scored with a deft push beating goalie Adrian D'Souza. India drew level in the 45th minute when Diwakar converted a stroke.

Diwakar turned out to be India's super-sub when he made it 2-1 scoring from a penalty corner. The 19-year-old had come in place of the prolific Sandeep Singh, who was injured.

India made it 3-1 in the 53rd minute, thanks to a combined effort. Captain Sardara Singh's free hit deflected off SV Sunil's stick and Shivendra was left with the easiest of tap-ins.

Bronze medallists in the last two editions of Azlan Shah Cup, India still have a faint chance of making the semifinals.

In Sunday's other matches, Olympics-bound New Zealand suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against hosts Malaysia. Pakistan dropped their first points when they were held 3-3 by Argentina.

In Monday's matches, Belgium face India, Canada meet Pakistan and Malaysia take on Argentina.