Captain Harmanpreet Singh and striker Mandeep Singh scored hat- trick as India drubbed Bangladesh 12-0 to complete their Pool A league with all five wins and moved into the semi-finals of Men’s hockey competition at the ASian Games in Hangzhou China on Monday.
Other scorers were Lalit Upadhyay (23’), Amit Rohidas (28’), Abhishek (41’, 57’), Nilakanta Sharma (47’) and Sumit (56’) .
World No. three, India came into the match on the back of a commanding 10-2 win over arch-rivals Pakistan on men in blue Saturday. Earlier men in blue had beaten Uzbekistan (16-0), Singapore (16-1) and Japan (4-2).
As the game opened India attacked Bangladesh right from the start. Jarmanpreet Singh led the first attack of the match from the right flanks to start the proceedings.
The in-form drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh (2′) was right on target on the first penalty corner (1-0) Moments later, Harmanpreet (4′) converted another set-piece to make it 2-0.
Despite the early lead, India team continued to press deep, not allowing Bangladesh to make any inroads into their circle.
The start of the second quarter saw Bangladesh stringing along a few passes inside India’s half but the attack was broken down by Sanjay. Minutes later, Mandeep Singh (18′) combined with Abhishek inside the circle to make it 3-0.
Abhishek provided his second assist of the match as a pass from him was deflected beautifully into the nets by Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (23′).Then Mandeep Singh (24′) picked up a rebound from a penalty corner and struck it into the nets to make it 5-0 .
Amit Rohidas (28′) showcased his drag flick abilities, scoring from a late penalty corner and India went into halftime with a 6-0 lead.
The second half started with India maintaining possession and looking to increase their lead. As Abhishek managed to earn an early penalty corner in the third quarter, Harmanpreet (32′) found the nets again to complete his hat-trick.
Amit Rohidas and Nilakanta Sharma defended well as Bangladesh made dangerous runs of their own. Late into the quarter, Abhishek (41′) picked up a long pass and hammered a powerful reverse hit into the nets, and India went into the final quarter with 8-0 lead.
Mandeep Singh (46′) struck the ball into the nets after receiving an aerial pass from Abhishek. Moments later, Nilakanta Sharma (47′) hit a powerful shot past Bangladesh’s goalkeeper as the goal tally reached the double digits.
Exploiting a small gap available on the left flank, Sumit made a late circle penetration and passed the ball to Gurjant Singh (56′) in front of the nets who struck it past the goalkeeper to make it 11-0 .
A minute later, Abhishek (57′) picked a pass from Gurjant Singh and struck it into the nets to make it 12-0.