Kakamigahara, Sept 23:
India produced another emphatic performance in the men’s hockey competition at the Asian Games, thrashing Sri Lanka 16-1 in their second Pool A match on Tuesday.
Jugraj Singh, Abhishek Nain and Dilpreet Singh scored hat-tricks as India maintained their dominant start to the campaign. Jugraj finished with four goals, while Abhishek and Dilpreet scored three each.
India had already defeated Indonesia 13-1 in their opening match and once again dominated possession and territory against Sri Lanka. The Indian attack repeatedly penetrated the Lankan defence and created a succession of scoring opportunities.
Jugraj opened the scoring through a penalty corner in the 10th minute, while Abhishek added another a minute later. Abhishek struck again in the 17th minute before Jugraj converted another penalty corner in the 22nd minute.
Dilpreet then joined the scoring spree, helping India establish an 8-0 lead by half-time. Sukhjeet Singh and Manpreet Singh were also among the scorers, while Vivek Prasad added another goal after the break.
Jugraj completed his hat-trick through a penalty stroke before Harmanpreet Singh converted another penalty corner. Abhishek completed his hat-trick with a back-stick effort.
Sri Lanka eventually scored their first-ever Asian Games goal against India through Rathnayake. Jugraj then added his fourth goal before Dilpreet completed his hat-trick to round off the 16-1 victory.
India’s chief coach Craig Fulton said the first two matches had provided useful opportunities to sharpen the team’s attacking play ahead of tougher contests against the Republic of Korea and Japan.
India will now look towards those more demanding Pool A matches as they continue their bid for the men’s hockey gold medal.