Defending champions India went down to Pakistan 2-3 in the six-nation Junior hockey tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

The Indians, who were reduced to nine men in the dying moments of the second half, led 2-1 at the break but could not hold on to the lead after their skipper Prabodh Tirkey and goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza were shown the yellow card.

D'Souza was given marching orders after he clashed with a Pakistani player inside the box.

The defeat comes after two victories by India's under-21 squad against the highly-fancied Germans and South Korea.

Pakistan have won two matches and drawn one.

"We were down to nine players when our goalie was yellow carded; that cost us the match," team coach Harendra Singh, said after the match.

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