Bhubaneswar, Dec 9: Olympic bronze medallist Germany defeated Malaysia 5-3 in a keenly-contested match to maintain their all-win record and seal a direct quarterfinal spot by topping Pool D at the men's hockey World Cup here on Sunday.

Germany finished their pool engagements with a maximum of nine points from three games.

Tim Herzbruch (2nd, 59th minutes) and Christopher Ruhr (14th, 18th) scored two goals each while Marco Miltkau (39th) struck the other one for the world number 6 Germans.

Malaysia's all three goals came from penalty corner conversions by Razie Rahim (26th, 42nd) and Nabil Noor (28th).

By virtue of this win, the Germans joined two-time champions Australia, Olympic champions Argentina and hosts India in the quarterfinals.

Asian Games silver medallist Malaysia are all but out of the tournament as they are placed last in Pool D with just one point and an inferior goal difference. Only a miracle can save Malaysia from packing their bags. They can still remain in the fray if the Netherlands beat Pakistan by at least eight goals or more.

Both the teams had their chances in the game but it was Germany who were more precise with their finishing skills.

The Germans started brightly and raced to a 3-0 lead inside 18 minutes through goals from Herzbruch and Ruhr.

But the Malaysians tried to make a valiant fightback and managed to reduce the margin to 2-3 in the 28th minute through goals from Rahim and Noor.

The clinical Germans capitalised on Malaysia's defensive errors when Marco Miltkau deflected in a Niklas Wellen's perfect lay-off in the 39th minute.

The Malaysians did not give up and narrowed down the gap to 3-4 when Rahim converted another penalty corner.

The Germans had the last laugh when Miltkau scored from a counter-attack just a minute from the final hooter to dash any hopes of Malaysia's comeback.

Both the teams had numerous scoring opportunities in the form of penalty corners. While Malaysia earned as many as eight penalty corners, the Germans secured seven in the match.

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Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has told a Beltangady court that the alleged Dharmasthala mass burial case was a completely fabricated conspiracy by anti-Dharmasthala activists.

The SIT named six accused in the case, Chinnayya (A1), Mahesh Shetty Timrodi, Girish Mattannanavar, Jayanth, Vitthal Gowda, and Sujatha Bhatt. In its preliminary report, the SIT said Dharmasthala authorities had no role in the allegations and issued them a clean chit, as reported by India Today on Wednesday.

The SIT reportedly said, the first accused, Chinnayya, was paid, pressured and coached to give false statements. A false narrative of “mass burials” was allegedly built to target Dharmasthala, with the accused procuring a skull, staging evidence, and recording coached statements.

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The SIT also stated that conspiracy meetings were held at the residence of Mahesh Shetty Timrodi. Video clips, bank transaction details, electronic records and witness statements have reportedly been recovered as part of the probe. The SIT concluded, in its preliminary report, that the mass burial allegations were fabricated and orchestrated as part of a planned conspiracy.

According to the report, the SIT has now sought court permission to arrest five of the accused. Arrests could take place any moment if approval is granted, and the agency is preparing for custodial interrogation to file its final report.

Reacting to the filing of the charge sheet, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar reportedly said he had already stated in the Assembly that the accusations were part of a conspiracy.

“Some of our own leaders asked me about it. I knew the allegations were not factual and that a conspiracy was underway. But ultimately, the truth has prevailed. Justice has been done,” IT quoted Shivakumar as saying.

Shivakumar said that he had not yet seen the charge sheet and only learned about it through the media. He said the law must take its own course and warned that such conspiracies would damage institutions that had existed for years. As per the report, he also commented on differences between the RSS and the BJP, saying they were “deeply connected to this conspiracy.”