Indian men's hockey team thrash Bangladesh to top group, set up Asian Games semi-final

Defending champions India blanked Bangladesh 10-0 amid heavy downpour in their final group fixture of the Asian Games here on Monday with captain Harmanpreet Singh scoring a hat-trick.

India finished on top of Pool A and set up a blockbuster semi-final against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 1. The other semi-final will be played between Malaysia and South Korea.

India dominated Pool A with wins over Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh – finishing with a goal difference of +45. The team will now have a well-deserved two-day break before the all-important semifinals.

India's goals came via Abhishek (3), Jugraj Singh (22) Harmanpreet Singh (27, 40, 45), Sukhjeet Singh (32), Lakra Shilanand (44, 45), Sanjay (59) and Mandeep Singh (60).

Rain left the pitch and the players drenched, making movement difficult. But the much fitter Indian team was better prepared for the rain-hit conditions. The start of the match was delayed by 30 minutes after the game between Pakistan and Oman had to be suspended for about 15 minutes amid heavy rain, forcing adjustment of timings for subsequent matches in the day.

India made their intentions clear early on and opened the scoring in the 3rd minute. Sanjay joined the attacking build-up and despite finding himself at a tight angle inside the Bangladesh circle, he showed good awareness to find Abhishek.

The forward shifted slightly to his left before unleashing his trademark reverse hit that flew past the Bangladesh goalkeeper to give India a 1-0 lead.

India continued to build attacks consistently but struggled to add to their advantage in the opening quarter. Bangladesh earned a penalty corner in the 12th minute, with Amirul Islam producing a decent drag-flick, but goalkeeper Suraj Karkera was alert to the danger and kicked the ball away.

India thought they had earned another penalty corner in the 15th minute, but Bangladesh successfully used their video referral to overturn the decision.

There was a brief injury scare for Abhishek shortly afterwards as he was helped off the field by the physio, although the forward did not appear to have suffered anything serious and returned to the pitch later.

The drizzle intensified into heavy rain at the start of the second quarter, leaving the pitch increasingly waterlogged.

India doubled their advantage in the 22nd minute after Mandeep Singh was blocked by Bangladesh defenders inside the circle and India were awarded a penalty corner. Jugraj Singh's goal-bound drag-flick struck the foot of a defender positioned on the post, prompting the umpire to signal a penalty stroke. Jugraj stepped up and calmly converted to make it 2-0.

The heavy pitch made it difficult for both teams to move the ball at pace, but India continued to press. In the 27th minute, an aerial ball into the Bangladesh circle found Mandeep, who cleverly created another penalty corner.

Harmanpreet took responsibility and unleashed a powerful flick that beat the Bangladesh defence to put India 3-0 ahead at half-time.

Soon after the break, in the 32nd minute, Dilpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh combined brilliantly with quick touch-play to outfox the Bangladesh goalkeeper, leaving Sukhjeet with the simple task of guiding the ball into the open goal for India's fourth goal.

Sukhjeet almost added another in the 37th minute after combining with Shilanand Lakra, but the Bangladesh defence reacted quickly. A minute later, Harmanpreet's aerial flick from a penalty corner narrowly missed the post.

India eventually found their fifth in the 40th minute. Vivek Sagar Prasad created the penalty corner and Harmanpreet stepped up again, sending his drag-flick into the net to make it 5-0.

Shilanand then took centre stage, scoring twice in quick succession in the 44th and 45th minutes to stretch India's lead to 7-0. The result was a foregone conclusion from thereon.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)