But China nearly pulled the rug from under the Indian feet, even granting that they were a bit lucky not to concede more than just two goals. The Indian forwards nearly re-enacted the Commonwealth Games drama in September wherein they had totally outplayed Malaysia only to lose 0-1.

On Sunday, the spectre of such a possibility surfaced as India, after taking the lead in the 10th minute when Dhanraj Pillay put home a rebound after Mukesh Kumar's try had come off the post, struggled to add to the tally until about seven minutes from close when Mukesh Kumar was credited with a goal as his intended pass from inside thecircle to Baljit Singh Dhillon got deflected to the boards off a defender's stick.

In between the two Indian strikes, the Chinese had levelled the scores with a goal through Wang Jun who diverted a pass from Wang Yang from a penalty corner, two minutes into the second-half.

The Indians created any number of scoring opportunities, but success eluded them with the forwards either fumbling or the Chinese deep defence somehow managing to scramble the ball to safety. There was a particularly brilliant goal-line stop by defender Gao Feng to deny Mukesh Kumar with the goalkeeper stranded at the top of the circle as he tried to check a lightning counter-attack by Pillay.

There were several other instances where India came within a whisker of scoring, but as has been the case in the past, the finish was missing. Consequently, the Chinese were kept in the match, not as much due to any ingenuity on their part as the prodigality of the Indian forwards in missing chances, however cliched it might sound.

Thematch-winner came as a great relief not just to the team, but also to the hundreds of Indian supporters who had filled the stands. A quick sortie by Pillay through the middle broke the Chinese defence. He swiftly flicked the ball to his right and Mukesh entered the circle at a dead-run. On seeing Dhillon well-placed near the penalty spot, the right-winger essayed a pass. But a defender interception only to allow the ball to get deflected into goal.

Malaysian umpire Neru Ruben, apparently unsighted, stopped the match even as he was surrounded by the Indian and Chinese players. He consulted his colleague T Fujimura of Japan and then awarded the goal to India, as he should have done at the first instance. The Chinese protested mildly thinking that Mukesh had made the pass from outside the circle. But there was little doubt that the goal was legitimate.

It was that close for India who, it must be said, appeared a bit complacent early on but soon realised their folly. The Chinese were extremely fast andfrequently outpaced the Indian defenders who had a trying time to contain the darting runs of the rival forwards.

Earlier, in two inconsequential matches, Hong Kong pumped in four goals without reply against Thailand in pool A, while Singapore drew 1-1 with Bangladesh in pool B.