RAJGIR (BIHAR), Sept 6:
A ruthless India thrashed China 7-0 in their final Super 4s match to storm into the final of the men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament here on Saturday.
The Indians controlled the game from start to finish and scored through Shilanand Lakra (4th minute), Dilpreet Singh (7th), Mandeep Singh (18th), Raj Kumar Pal (37th), Sukhjeet Singh (39th) and Abhishek (46th, 50th).
India, thus, topped the Super 4s standings with seven points ahead of defending champions Korea, who were second with four points.
India will play five-time champions Korea in Sunday’s final for a place in next year’s World Cup to be jointly hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands.
China and Malaysia will lock horns in the third-fourth place match, also on Sunday.
Korea had earlier produced a spirited performance to register a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Malaysia in a must-win Super 4 match.
Against China on Saturday, it was complete domination from the Indians throughout the match as the play was mostly inside the Chinese half.
The Indian defence was hardly tested in the match as China found it difficult to penetrate the hosts circle. India did not concede a single penalty corner in the match.
The Indians didn’t waste to assert their supremacy in the match as they pressed hard from the word go. Their efforts paid dividends in the fourth minute when Shilanand broke the deadlock.
It was skipper Harmanpreet Singh’s inch-perfect aerial ball from half line that found Jarmanpreet Singh on the right flank, whose pass was neatly stopped and pushed in by Shilanand.
It was relentless from the Indians as, after scoring, Shilanand earned a penalty corner for his side minutes later.
Harmanpreet’s initial flick was saved by Chinese goalkeeper Weihao Wang, but Dilpreet stationed himself at the right place to find the net from the rebound and double India’s lead.
In the 13th minute, Sanjay came tantalizingly close to adding another but his slap shot from the left corner went just wide. (PTI)
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