The Indian men’s hockey team just didn’t let Pakistan come even close to them in the Pool A encounter on Saturday, September 30 as the goal-scoring annihilation reached 10 for Harmanpreet Singh-led side in their best-ever performance against the arch-rivals. India beat Pakistan 10-2 to record their fourth win in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou to all but seal their place in the semi-finals with one game to go in Pool A, against Bangladesh.
It all started with Abhishek’s diving assist to Mandeep Singh in the 8th minute as India took an early 1-0 lead. Four minutes later, a penalty stroke was converted by skipper Harmanpreet Singh as India were 2-0 up in the first quarter. It seemed like someone had opened the tap as India added two more goals before the first half including a penalty corner which was converted by Harmanpreet himself.
After halftime, the Indian team, especially the skipper Harmanpreet breathed more fire as he scored twice in a span of one minute including a penalty stroke and then a corner in the 33rd and the 34th minutes. Pakistan finally opened their account four minutes later with Sufiyan Mohammed’s powerful drag flick.
India were not going to stop on Saturday as Varun Kumar converted Sukhjeet Singh’s pass in the 41st minute to net another one for India. Pakistan converted another PC before the end of the third quarter as the scoreline was 7-2 in India’s favour. Shamsher, Lalit Upadhyay and Varun Kumar scored goals in 46th, 49th and 53rd minutes as India achieved a double-digit score for the first time in 180-match history against Pakistan in men’s hockey.
India are now at the top of the table with 12 points with Harmanpreet scoring four goals in the match.
Captain Harmanpreet mentioned that there are still areas to be improved upon but was happy with how the team came out as he admitted that they needed to be mentally strong as there is always pressure in an India-Pakistan game, whichever sport it is in. Harmanpreet mentioned that they know that they can’t get complacent with the semi-final berth getting confirmed and will hope to start strong and finish stronger in their final Pool A match against Bangladesh.
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