Asian Games 2023, Hockey: India thrash Pakistan 10-2 in Pool A to register their biggest win against arch rivals

Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored four goals as India decimated neighbors Pakistan 10-2 in a Pool A encounter in the ongoing Asian Games 2023.

India took the lead half-way through the first quarter through Mandeep Singh. The duo of Mandeep and Abhishek combined well to run through the Pakistani defence and which set up a tap-in for Mandeep to give India an early lead.

Late in the first quarter, skipper Harmanpreet doubled India’s lead with a brilliantly taken penalty stroke. In the second quarter, Harmanpreet found the back of the net once again, this time through a well-worked penalty corner.

In the dying seconds of the second quarter, Sumit piled the misery on Pakistan by netting India’s fourth of the match. Sumit directed a powerful reverse hit by Lalit Upadyay past the Pakistani goalkeeper to give India a 4-0 advantage going into half-time.

Early in the third quarter, Harmanpreet was presented with a chance from a penalty stroke once again and he did not falter, scoring to complete his second hattrick of the 2023 Asian Games. India kept the pressure on and won consecutive penalty corners straight after scoring. And the pressure paid off as Harmanpreet converted in the 37th minute to make it 6-0 in India’s



favour.

With seven minutes to go in the third quarter, Sufyan Muhammad produced a powerful drag flick through a penalty corner to open the scoring for Pakistan. Just minutes later, India roared back with Varun Kumar deflecting a perfectly-placed reverse hit from Sukhjeet Singh to net India’s seventh goal of the evening.

In the dying moments of the third quarter, Pakistan pulled another one back through a penalty corner. Abdul Rana found a slight deflection off Sufyan’s drag flick to net Pakistan’s second goal.

India started off the final quarter in phenomenal fashion with Shamsher Singh scoring India’s eight goal of the evening. Shamsher was played in with a well-worked scoop pass after he found himself in acres of space in the Pakistan box. He made no mistake and fired a powerful shot to make it 8-2.

Soon after Shamsher’s goal, Lalit Upadyay made a mockery of the Pakistani defence to net India’s ninth goal. After being played in by Jarmanpreet, Upadyay deceived the goalkeeper with a fake shot, took the ball between his legs to create space, before firing a reverse hit in the back of the net.

India defended well in the final quarter to keep the scoreline unchanged to register their biggest win against arch rivals Pakistan.