Internet Desk: India went to the top of Pool A with a crushing 3-1 win over arch rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup hockey in Dhaka on Sunday. It was India’s third successive win in the tournament after winning their first two matches against Japan (5-1) and Bangladesh (7-0).
Sardar Singh and his team dominated the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard on the Indian defence in search of goals.
It was a hat-trick of wins for the senior team over Pakistan following their back-to-back victories in the Hockey World League Semi-Final in London earlier this year.
Chinglesnsana Singh (17th minute), Ramandeep Singh (44th) and Harmanpreet Singh (45th) scored the goals for India, while Pakistan lone strike came from the stick of Ali Shan in the 49th minute.
Both India and Pakistan have managed to secure their place in the round-robin Super 4 stage of the tournament in spite of Japan winning 3-1 over the hosts.
It was Pakistan who had the first real scoring chance when they earned their first penalty corner but they wasted it.
The Indians came out hard in the second quarter and took the lead in the 17th minute through Chinglesnsana, who slammed home after receiving a fine pass from Akashdeep Singh, who was operating in the wide right. Ramandeep doubled the lead for India in the 44th minute with a neat deflection off Harmanpreet Singh’s fantastic cross from the middle of the pitch. India extended their lead in the very next minute from their second penalty corner through Harmanpreet.
Pakistan, who looked more purposeful in the fourth and final quarter, reduced the margin in the 49th minute through Shan’s field strike.
India finished on top of Pool A with nine points from three games while Pakistan secured the second spot with four points.