Dominant India thrash Pakistan again, enter Asia Cup final
DHAKA: A dominant India continued their unbeaten run in the tournament and thrashed archrivals Pakistan 4-0 to sail into the final of the 10th men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament.
The sixth ranked India, who just needed a draw to seal a place in tomorrow’s summit clash, produced a superlative performance after the change of ends to pump in four goals -- three field strikes and one through penalty corner.
Satbir Singh (39th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (51st), Lalit Upadhyay (52nd) and Gurjant Singh (57th) were the scorers for India.
By virtue of this win, India not only topped the Super 4 stage with seven points, but also knocked Pakistan out of the tournament. India will now play Malaysia. who drew 1-1 against South Korea, in the final.
Malaysia finished second in Super 4 to qualify for their maiden Asia Cup final. Pakistan and South Korea, on the other
hand, will face each other in the bronze medal playoff .
Contrary to the result, the Indians were slow to get off the blocks, while Pakistan were the better side in terms of possession in the first two quarters. Pakistan had three chances via penalty corners to take the lead in the first quarter, but wasted all.
The Indians secured the first penalty corner in the final minute of the opening quarter, but Harmanpreet messed up the opportunity.
After Ramandeep Singh’s shot was saved by Pakistan goalkeeper Amjad Ali in the 23rd minute, India defended well to deny their rivals from another short corner.
Minutes later, Harmanpreet hit the cross bar from India’s second penalty corner as both the teams failed to break the deadlock at half time. But India looked more organised after the change of ends and dominated the proceedings in the final two quarters.
Satbir gave India the lead in the 39th minute after receiving a fine back stick pass from Lalit.