India defeats Singapore 16-1 in hockey action at the Asian Games
In their Pool A Hockey encounter at the Asian Games on Tuesday at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in this city, championship candidate India thrashed Singapore 16-1 under the leadership of captain Harmanpreet Singh and midfielder Mandeep Singh.
India, which is now ranked third in the world, defeated Uzbekistan 16-0 in the tournament’s first match, and with their win today, the men in blue solidified their lead in Pool A of the hockey rankings. Each pool’s top two finishers advance to the semifinals.
This decisive victory included goals by Mandeep Singh (12′, 30′, 51′), Lalit Upadhyay (16′), Gurjant Singh (22′), Vivek Sagar Prasad (23′), Harmanpreet Singh (24′, 39′, 40′, 42′), Manpreet Singh (37′), Samsher Singh (38′), Abhishek (51′, 52′), and Varun Kumar (55′, 56′). Singapore’s consolation goal came from Muhammad Zaki Bin Zulkarnain at the 53-second mark.
India immediately launched an assault when captain Harmanpreet Singh made his playing XI debut after missing the Uzbekistan match, forcing Singapore, ranked 49th in the world, to defend deeply. The winning team continued moving into the opposition’s half and scored the game’s first field goal.
To end the tie, Mandeep Singh deflected a ball from Gurjant Singh. India was in the lead 1-0 at the conclusion of the first period.
Minutes into the second quarter, three-time Asian Games winner India increased their advantage. Sukhjeet handed the ball to an advancing Lalit Upadhyay after dribbling into the Singapore half, and he scored to make it 2-0.
India scored four more goals—Gurjant Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harmanpreet Singh, and Mandeep Singh—before Singapore could recover from the early blows. Mandeep Singh scored his second goal of the game in the last seconds of the first half. At the interval, the score was 6-0.
After the half, India continued to dominate and scored 10 more goals, but Muhammad Zaki Bin Zulkarnain of Singapore gave Singapore a one-point comeback. At Hangzhou 2023, Mandeep Singh scored a hat-trick, his second in as many games, while Harmanpreet Singh scored four goals.
against Thursday, India will take against the reigning champion, Japan.
