Hockey Asia Cup
Rajgir, Sep 1: A ruthless India scored every four minutes on average to demolish Kazakhstan 15-0 in an utterly lopsided match and march into the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup hockey tournament with an all-win record here on Monday.
Abhishek (5th, 8th, 20th, 59th minutes) found the target four times, while Sukhjeet Singh (15th, 32nd, 38th) and Jugraj Singh (24th, 31st, 47th) struck fine hat-tricks to help India top Pool A.
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh (26th), Amit Rohidas (29th), Rajinder Singh (32nd), Sanjay (54th) and Dilpreet Singh (55th) were the other scorers as India registered their third consecutive win in the tournament after beating China and Japan.
India will be joined by China in the Super 4s from their group.
In the match, Sukhjeet intercepted the ball inside Kazakhstan half and passed it on to Abhishek, who opened India’s account with a reverse shot from the top of the circle.
Abhishek scored his second goal three minutes later from a similar position but this time, with his forehand.
India secured their first penalty corner just before the end of opening quarter but Harmanpreet’s effort was saved by Kazakh custodian Yerzhan Yelubayev. But, from the resultant free hit, Sukheet tapped in from a feed by Abhishek.
Abhishek got his hat-trick when he pushed home the ball from a tight angle after receiving a pass from Harmanpreet.
Another penalty corner came India’s way in the 23rd minute and Jugraj made mistake to make it 5-0.
Minutes later, India secured another penalty corner and this time, Harmanpreet found the net.
After Dilpreet missed a sitter from a one-on-one situation, Rohidas got his name in the scoresheet by converting another set piece a minute from half time.
Right after the change of ends, India secured a penalty stroke and Jugraj scored.
Jugraj completed his hat-trick by converting a penalty stroke in the fourth quarter before Sanjay capitalised on a penalty corner.
Dilpreet Singh, too, got his name on the scoresheet before Abhishek, who started it all, completed the Kazakhstan humiliation by scoring his fourth goal a minute from the final hooter.
Earlier, Japan lost out on Super 4 berth to China on goal difference after a 2-2 draw.
In the day’s first Pool A match, China took a 2-0 lead through field goals from Changliang Lin (7th minute) and Xiaojia Zhang (25th) before Japan mounted a comeback.
Facing a must-win situation, Japan made a remarkable rally with Kazumasa Matsumoto (28th, 51st) scoring a brace. (PTI)
