India capped off an unbeaten run at the 4th Asian Champions Trophy with a 3-2 win in the final over defending champions Pakistan to win their second title in Kuantan, Malaysia on October 30. In the course of the round-robin matches, India had beaten Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan and China, while drawing their league match against Korea to top the group. In their semi-final, they came up against the Koreans and drew in regulation time again, before winning the shootout.Though this win will not impact Indias rankings in any way - India went into the tournament as the top-ranked Asian nation, their sixth position is the only one from Asia in the top ten at present - it was important for India to show their supremacy in the continent after having lost the 2012 final to Pakistan and then finishing fifth with a youth team in 2013.Here are the five reasons that made this Asian Champions Trophy win memorable.A final won without Sreejesh All of Indias podium finishes in recent years have owed a large part to PR Sreejesh, who first starred under the bar against Pakistan in the Asian Games final shootout in Incheon in 2014 to book Indias berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was also instrumental in helping India win a bronze medal at the World League Final in 2015 against the Netherlands, as well as the silver medal finish in London at the 2016 Champions Trophy. In Kuantan, Sreejesh injured his ankle during the league phases and then reportedly tore a hamstring in the shootout win over Korea in the semi-final. It could be argued India may not have made it to the final without him in goal, but theres no taking credit away from India in winning the gold medal match without their most consistent performer across the last three years.The youngsters stood up to be counted Akash Chikte replicated Sreejeshs heroics with the starts he got; he had the company of livewires like Affan Yousuf, Lalit Upadhyay and Pardeep Mor who put in good performances right through the tournaments. Mor, in particular, was a revelation, as an attack-minded wing player who repeatedly made his way into the opposition half and created panic in their defence. His work rate in falling back to help the defenders was admirable too.Sardar led by example in the knockouts When the league matches came to an end, it appeared Sardar Singh was a little unsure of his exact role in the team. After an unsuccessful experiment earlier in the year in Valencia as a forward, Sardar was tried out in defence in the first few matches of the Asian Champions Trophy, but the semi-final and final saw him being put into his favoured central-midfield role. He intercepted crucial passes, distributed the ball well and supplied the pass of the tournament against Pakistan, deep from the defensive third onto the stick of Ramandeep Singh, who slammed the ball across the face of goal and Affans touch put India 2-0 up.Asian flair with a European touch A common criticism of Indian hockey has been the emphasis on individual skills at the expense of defensive organization, but in Kuantan, India were efficient and scored from across the field, scoring 30 goals in seven matches. There were penalty-corners conversions, good individual goals, and several tip-ins executed by younger forwards like Affan and Lalit. These varied methods of scoring are normally associated with European countries like Germany, world champions Australia or even the newly-crowned Olympic champions Argentina.Killing a match off when on top of opponents One area of improvement would be converting an upper hand to closing out matches with greater ruthlessness, as they did against Japan and China. In the final, for example, India did all the running across the first two quarters and could have scored five or six goals if their forwards had been more efficient. If they could do it against the lower-ranked teams in the league stages, they must begin translating that mindset into matches involving teams of greater quality. Cheap Soccer Jerseys China . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. 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Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. DETROIT -- Joakim Soria had already withstood his toughest test, striking out Miguel Cabrera with the bases loaded.Compared to that, fielding Victor Martinezs comebacker should have been fairly simple.I made the pitches that I needed, and I got the result I needed, and then I didnt pick up the ball, Soria said. I probably make that play 95 times out of 100, but I thought he hit it harder than he did, and my body reacted the wrong way.Martinezs grounder deflected off Soria for a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning, scoring two runs and lifting the Detroit Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.Martinezs comebacker bounced off Soria and rolled to the area between first and second. With the second baseman playing way out in shallow right field, the Royals couldnt retire Martinez, and two runners scored on the play.Id rather give up a double up the gap than do that, because I had a chance to get us out of the inning, and I didnt take it, Soria said. I made the pitches, but didnt field my position.Detroits Tyler Collins hit a solo homer earlier in the inning off Luke Hochevar (1-2) to tie the game at 2. Ian Kinsler also homered for the Tigers.Justin Verlander (9-6) allowed one earned run and four hits. Justin Wilson pitched the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez finished for his 25th save in 27 chances.Collins was called up from the minors before the game to replace Justin Upton, who was put on the bereavement list. Collins was 2 for 22 with Detroit this season before his seventh-inning homer tied the game. After consecutive singles by Jose Iglesias and Kinsler, Soria came on and walked Cameron Maybin to load the bases with one out.After falling behind 3-0 on Cabrera, Soria recovered to strike out the Detroit slugger, but Martinez followed with his grounder that turned into a two-run single.Verlander struck out the side in the first, and Kinsler led off the bottom half with a homer, but Detroit couldnt add to that lead. With men on first and second in the sixth, Kansas Citys Salvador Perez lifted a deep drive to right that Steven Moya couldnt handle.dddddddddddd Perez ended up with an RBI double, and another run came home on the play thanks to a throwing error by Kinsler.Kansas City starter Ian Kennedy allowed a run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.RESPECTRoyals manager Ned Yost, who was the American League skipper at the All-Star Game, talked a bit about Cabreras gesture in Tuesdays game in which he insisted Kansas Citys Eric Hosmer get another at-bat to try to boost his MVP case. Cabrera didnt replace Hosmer until the seventh inning of that game.Whats really unique about the All-Star Game for me is that you get 34 guys from different organizations that youre screaming at and yelling at one day from across the field, but you walk into that clubhouse door and its amazing how they unite into a team for two days, Yost said.RETURNThe most memorable thing Collins did with the Tigers earlier this season was extend a middle finger toward booing home fans back in April. He heard plenty of cheers Friday. The homer was his first of the season for Detroit.It feels great, definitely, Collins said. It feels better to get the win.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: Yost said OF Lorenzo Cain (left hamstring) is probably at about 85 percent. Cain is eligible to come off the DL whenever the Royals feel hes ready.Tigers: Manager Brad Ausmus said LHP Daniel Norris (right oblique) was probably a couple of days away from a bullpen session. ... RHP Jordan Zimmermann (neck) said he would probably do long-toss Saturday.UP NEXTRoyals: LHP Danny Duffy (4-1) starts Saturday night against the Tigers. He has struck out at least seven hitters in four straight starts. The last Kansas City pitcher to do it in five straight starts was Zack Greinke, when he won the Cy Young Award in 2009.Tigers: RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-8) tries for his third straight quality start.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '