Olympic test event: India's men's hockey team beats Malaysia 6-0
Mandeep Singh and Gursahibjit Singh scored a brace each as India defeated Malaysia 6-0 in a Olympic Test event fixture in Tokyo on Saturday.
Published : Aug 17, 2019 16:43 IST
Mandeep Singh and Gursahibjit Singh scored a brace each as India defeated Malaysia 6-0 in a Olympic Test event fixture in Tokyo on Saturday. While both Mandeep and Gursahibjit toyed with Malaysia, it was Varun Kumar, who gave India the lead in the ninth minute.
He made the most of the penalty corner and converted into a goal. The Indian team maintained dominance throughout the fixture, without allowing the opponents to fight back. In the second quarter, India extended the lead with Gursahibjit scoring. Ashish Topno -- who made his debut on Saturday -- who had control of the ball, passed it on to Gurjant only for Gursahibjit to deflect it into the net. In the third and fourth quarters, Mandeep scored twice to help India extend the lead. In the fourth quarter, Gursahibjit added one more to his kitty. In the final minutes, seasoned S.V. Sunil scored a goal to add to Malaysia's woes.
Along with Ashish, Shamsher Singh also made his debut against Malaysia.
Both the Indian teams -- men and women -- have secured their places in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers, to be held later this year, by winning their respective FIH Series Finals. The Indians have rested seniors like skipper Manpreet Singh and goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, opting to test some young players.
In Manpreet’s absence, dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh lead the side while striker Mandeep Singh has been named his deputy.