ASIA CUP: Clinical India mauls Bangladesh

Ranked sixth in the world, India was no match for its less-fancied rivals as it controlled the proceedings from start to finish en route its emphatic win. India scored five goals in the first two quarters while it added another two after the change of ends.

Published : Oct 13, 2017 20:07 IST , DHAKA

India's Harmanpreet Singh in action against Bangladesh.
India's Harmanpreet Singh in action against Bangladesh.
lightbox-info

India's Harmanpreet Singh in action against Bangladesh.

India produced yet another clinical performance to maul minnows Bangladesh 7-0, registering its second consecutive win at the men's Asia Cup hockey tournament, here on Friday. India earlier beat Japan 5-1 in the opening match on Wednesday .

Ranked sixth in the world, India was no match for its less-fancied rivals as it controlled the proceedings from start to finish en route its emphatic win. India scored five goals in the first two quarters while it added another two after the change of ends.

Gurjant Singh (7th minute), Akashdeep Singh (10th), Lalit Upadhyay (13th), Amit Rohidas (20th), Harmanpreet Singh (28th, 47th) and Ramandeep Singh (46th) were the goal scorers for India.

READ: India vs Bangladesh: As it happened

As expected, India was completely in control of the game and displayed superior hockey as compared to the host. However, India's penalty corner conversion rate would be a cause of concern for chief coach Sjoerd Marije. India secured as many as 13 short corners in the entire four quarters but could only covert two into goals.

The proceeding was completely one sided. The deadlock could have been broken in the 3rd minute but SV Sunil's shot from a loose ball was saved by home team goalkeeper.

But in the seventh minute, Gurjant deflected in a Amit Rohidas pass to give India the lead. Akashdeep then made it 2-0 when he pushed into the net a Sunil pass three minutes later.

ALSO READ: Marijne: 'My focus is on job, can’t react to people’s criticism'

Three minutes later, Lalit Upadhyay made it 3-0 in favour of India, when he slotted home after being set by Akashdeep.

India earned its first penalty corner in the next minute but Harmanpreet's effort was way off the target.

Rohidas, lurking insde the D, then made it 4-0 when he deflected in Gurjant's cross from the right flank. The Indians soon got four back-to-back penalty corners but wasted all.

Two minutes from half time, India was awarded a penalty stroke and Harmanpreet stepped up to score his first goal of the day as the Manpreet Singh-led side went into the breather with a comfortable 5-0 lead.

ALSO READ: Sreejesh: 'Injury has opened my eyes to life outside hockey'

Soon after the resumption of play, India got three more penalty corners but as has been the order of the day, failed to utilise the opportunities as Bangladesh produced a much 
better account of itself in the third quarter.

Two minutes into the final quarter, Ramandeep scored with a variation from India's ninth penalty corner to make the scoreline 6-0. The Indians secured four more penalty corners soon, the third of which was converted by Harmanpreet with a powerful high flick to the top right corner of Bangladesh goal.

The Indians lead Pool A with six points from two wins and will next play arch-rivals Pakistan in its last pool encounter on Sunday.

Meanwhile in the other match of Pool A, Japan held Pakistan to a 2-2 draw.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment