Lalit Upadhyay, Varun Kumar and Mandeep Singh slammed a hat-trick every as India began their males’s hockey marketing campaign on the Asian Video games with a 16-0 rout of lowly-ranked Uzbekistan right here on Sunday. Ranked third on this planet, India started the match as clear favourites in opposition to the world No. 66 Uzbeks and expectedly dominated the proceedings from begin to end within the Pool A match. Lalit (seventh, twenty fourth, thirty seventh, 53rd) and Varun (twelfth, thirty sixth, fiftieth, 52nd) fired in 4 targets every, whereas Mandeep (18th, twenty seventh, twenty eighth minutes) discovered the web thrice.
Abhishek (seventeenth), Amit Rohidas (thirty eighth), Sukhjeet (forty second), Shamsher Singh (forty third) and Sanjay (57th) had been the opposite purpose scorers as India toyed with the Uzbek defence all by way of the match.
India skipper Harmanpreet Singh didn’t play the match as he was rested after donning the duty of being the joint flag-bearer together with Olympic medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain through the opening ceremony of the Asian Video games on Saturday.
It was an entire domination from the Indians who took seven minutes to interrupt the impasse, however as soon as they did, it was full mayhem for Uzbekistan.
It was raining penalty corners for India as they secured as many as 14 in your entire 60 minutes however transformed simply 5, which must be a trigger for concern for chief coach Craig Fulton.
However what’s heartening is the show of the forward-line because it mixed properly with the midfield to pump in 10 targets, whereas the opposite got here from a penalty stroke within the thirty sixth minute.
The Indians obtained their first probability within the fifth minute however Abhishek’s faucet from shut vary was saved by Uzbek goalkeeper Davlat Tolibbaev.
Minutes later Sukhjeet earned India’s first penalty nook however Sanjay’s flick was stored away by Tolibbaev.
However India broke the impasse seconds later when Lalit scored from a rebound after Tolibbaev had made a double save.
Varun doubled India’s lead within the twelfth minute by changing a penalty nook with a strong low flick to the left of the Uzbek goalkeeper.
Simply initially of the second quarter, India secured one other penalty nook however as soon as once more Tolibbaev got here to his aspect’s rescue to disclaim Sanjay.
In addition to scoring, Mandeep was the live-wire upfront establishing targets for his teammates along with his good dribbling expertise.
India scored their third purpose within the seventeenth minute by way of Abhishek, who spun brilliantly to outwit his marker and faucet previous Tolibbaev after being arrange by Mandeep’s terrific work from the left flank.
Minutes from half-time, Mandeep joined the occasion, scoring two targets in a span of a minute.
It was raining penalty corners for India, who earned two extra in a span of three minutes however wasted each because the reigning Olympic bronze medallists led 7-0 on the half-way break.
The pattern continued after the change of ends as each the Indian goalkeepers — PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak –, who took turns to defend the purpose within the 4 quarters, remained mere spectators with the motion fully happening on the different aspect of the pitch.
The Indians regarded extra threatening within the final two quarters as they pumped in 9 extra targets — 4 got here from penalty corners, one from the spot and the remaining 4 from subject play as Fulton’s boys accomplished a powerful victory.
India will play Singapore of their subsequent pool match on Tuesday. PTI SSC AM SSC AM AM
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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