India held to 1-1 draw by Singapore in FIFA international friendly match

India dished out a dominating performance but failed to notch up a win, playing out a 1-1 draw against lower-ranked Singapore in their FIFA international friendly match in the Hung Thinh Tournament here on Saturday.

Ikhsan Fandi put Singapore ahead in the 37th minute when his free-kick from about 25 yards out took a deflection off the Indian wall and beat a diving goalie Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who could lay a hand on the ball but failed to stop it from entering the net.

Singapore’s joy lasted jut six minutes as Ashique Kuruniyan equalised in the 43rd minute off an assist from captain Sunil Chhetri.

Jeakson Singh made an interception in the Singapore half, passed the ball to Chhetri, who put Kuruniyan through on goal. Kuruniyan calmly slotted the ball home with a left-footed grounder which beat Singapore goalie and captain Hassan Sunny.

India are currently ranked 104th while Singapore are at 159th.

Singapore had lost 0-4 to hosts Vietnam in their first match.

India play Vietnam on Tuesday in their last match of the friendly tournament.