Indian men’s hockey team wins a convincing 16-1 victory over Singapore, giving them 32 goals in just two games. India’s next match is against Japan on September 28th.
On Tuesday, the Indian men’s hockey team defeated Singapore 16-1 at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou, China, in their second Asian Games 2023 Pool A match.
Mandeep Singh (12′, 30′, 51′), Lalit Upadhyay (16′), Gurjant Singh (22′), Vivek Sagar Prasad (23′), Harmanpreet Singh (24′, 39′, 40′, 42′), Manpreet Singh (37′), Samsher Singh (38′), Abhishek (51′, 52′), and Varun Kumar (55′, 56′) all scored. Singapore’s consolation goal came from Muhammad Zaki Bin Zulkarnain (53′).
With this victory, India, which has won the Asian Games men’s hockey Pool A championship three times, solidified their place atop the standings. The top two finishers from each pool progress to the semifinals. India’s men’s hockey team, which is presently ranked third in the FIH Rankings, trounced Uzbekistan 16-0, while Singapore was thrashed 11-0 by Pakistan in their opening match.
With talismanic captain Harmanpreet Singh back in the starting XI after missing the Uzbekistan encounter, India went on the offensive right away, forcing world No. 49 Singapore to defend deep. India advanced into the opposing half and began the scoring with a field goal.
#TeamIndia 🇮🇳 Captain and today’s Hat-trick Hero @13harmanpreet has a message for all the Indian Fans.#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #AsianGames #TeamIndia #HangzhouAsianGames #EnRouteToParis #IndianTeam #SunehraSafar pic.twitter.com/qVIRO5ISsa
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 26, 2023
Mandeep Singh deflected a pass from Gurjant Singh to break the deadlock. At the completion of the first quarter, India led 1-0. Just minutes into the second quarter, India’s lead had been doubled. Sukhjeet dribbled within Singapore’s half before passing to an onrushing Lalit Upadhyay, who converted to put India up 2-0.
Before Singapore could recover from the early punches, India added four more goals through Gurjant Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harmanpreet Singh, and Mandeep Singh, who scored his second goal of the game in the last seconds of the first half. The halftime score was 6-0 in favor of India.
On Thursday, the Indian men’s hockey team will face defending Asian Games champions Japan.
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