London: India put up a quality display to thrash arch-rivals Pakistan 6-1 in a fifth-eighth classification match of the Hockey World League Semi-Final on Saturday.
India will take on Canada for the fifth-sixth position classification tie on Sunday. This was the second time in this tournament that India has outclassed Pakistan by a huge margin.
India had recorded their biggest win over Pakistan on June 18 when they thrashed their arch-rivals 7-1 in a pool match.
India had crashed out of the race for the podium after suffering a 2-3 loss to Malaysia in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Ramandeep Singh opened the scoring for India to give the side an early lead in the eighth minute.
Talwinder Singh scored the second goal for India in the 25th minute. Pardeep Mor sent a hammering drive to the goal mouth with Talwinder making the final touch at the near post.
The Pakistan defenders were guilty of slightly loose marking in the penalty area which allowed too much space for Mor to get the pass in.
PAkistan failed to mark their arch-rivals time and again. As a result Mandeep Singh scored the third goal to put India in full control.
Ramandeep scored in the 28th minute to make it 4-0 for India.
Harmanpreet Singh made it 5-0 for India off a low shot from a penalty corner in the 36th minute.
Mandeep Singh scored the sixth and final goal for India, putting it straight in the back off the net with a swift run past Pakistan’s defenders in the 59th minute.
Pakistan pulled one back in the 41st minute after some miscommunication in the Indian penalty area. (IANS)
