India play Malaysia in semis
BIG WIN Defending champs maul SL 200, end pool stage with allwin record
JAKARTA: Defending champions India, already in the semi-finals of Asian Games men’s hockey, topped Pool A with an all-win record from five games after a 20-0 defeat of Sri Lanka.
India will take on Malaysia, who finished second behind eight-time champions Pakistan in Pool B, on Thursday for a berth in the gold medal round.
India completed group league engagements with a record 76 goals, which included a historic 26-0 win against Hong Kong, and the lopsided encounter against Sri Lanka was on the cards.
Akashdeep Singh scored six goals (9th, 11th, 17th, 22nd, 32nd, 42nd), Rupinder Pal Singh (1st, 52nd, 53rd), Harmanpreet Singh (5th, 21st, 33rd) and Mandeep Singh (35th, 43rd, 59th) scored three goals each. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (57th, 58th) netted a brace with Vivek Sagar Prasad (31st), Amit Rohidas (38th) and Dilpreet Singh (53rd) scoring one each.
“The boys are hungry for success, they want to score. I have given them the freedom to do that,” said India coach Harendra Singh.
Harendra knows Malaysia can be tricky opponents. “In 2010, we lost to Malaysia in the semi-final, but that’s an old story now. This is a different team from that one. I have only told the boys to focus on yourself and your game, not the opponent,” he said.
“All of us, including players and the staff, are here to create a legacy so there are no easy or tough matches. Our job is to go out there and do our best,” he said.
He also said that though the semi-finalists know each other, they have kept something special for the knockout rounds. “Everybody has done their homework well and we all know each other. We will try to execute our plans well against Malaysia as we are here to win gold medal.” India beat Hong Kong India beat
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