On Sunday, the Indian men’s hockey team began its quest for a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games by defeating Ghana 11-0 at the UOB Hockey and Squash Centre in Singapore.
Flickering drag Harmanpreet Singh scored three times (10′, 25′, and 53′), Jugraj Singh scored twice (22′ and 43′), and Abhishek (2′), Shamsher Singh (14′), Akashdeep Singh (20′), Nilakanta Sharma (38′), Varun Kumar (39′), and Mandeep Singh (48′) each scored once as India cruised to a big win in Pool B.
India led 5-0 at halftime after scoring three goals in the first quarter and two more in the second. They scored four goals in the third quarter before sealing the victory with two more in the fourth and final quarter.
In the one-sided match, Manpreet Singh’s team dominated possession (57-43%) and made 52 circle penetrations in attack to Ghana’s eight.
India is ranked fifth in the world, while Ghana, which is competing in the Commonwealth Games for the first time, is ranked 36th, a significant gap in their world hockey standings.
The Indians also created many chances but were denied by the goalkeeper and defenders as Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Shamsher Singh, Amit Rohidas and Jugraj Singh missed chances to add more goals to the Indian tally.
It was a good opener for India as they take on a tough opposition in world no. 6, England in the second game on Monday. India need to win that match against England to maintain their chances of topping the group and avoid running into top seed Australia in the semifinals.