Riding high on a hat-trick by V R Raghunath, India beat hosts Bangladesh 4-1 to win the second boys' under-16 Asia Cup hockey title in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The Indians scored all their goals from penalty-corners to retain the title they won in 2002..

Baljinder Singh accounted for India's fourth goal.

India's Pramod Kumar was declared man-of-the-match while and V Raja was named man-of-the-tournament.

Ironically, it was the home side who took the lead in the 16th minute through their skipper, Rasel. But Indian captain Raghunath hit back with three goals from penalty-corners to turn the match India's way.

Raghunath, the Sports Authority of India captain from Karnataka, put India level in the 20th minute and then gave them the lead in injury time of the first-half. He scored again on resumption before Baljinder Singh could complete the rout.

Play hotted up in the second session after India were 3-1 up and both captains were given temporay suspension.

Malaysia finished third, routing Sri Lanka 5-0.

Muhd Muhsin and M Jami scored two goals each, while Hang Tuah accounted for the other goal.

Teams:

India: Gurpreet Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Baljinder Singh, Raghunath, Bharath, Pramod Kumar, Jaiwinder Singh, Ajmir Singh, Jagdeep Kumar, Gurvinder Singh and V Raja.

Bangladesh: Zahid, Asaduzzaman, Nurun Nabi, Moshiur, Kamruzaman, Tariqul, Mosharraf, Ashif-a-Noor, Zahid Bin Talib, Rasel, Sultan. Subs: Imran Sr, Samad, Imran Jr, Raqibul.