Indian Men’s Hockey team dominates Singapore with 16-1 victory at Asian Games 2023
The Indian men's hockey team secured a resounding 16-1 victory over Singapore in their second Asian Games 2023 Pool A match.
Hangzhou: In a stunning display of dominance, the Indian men’s hockey team secured a resounding 16-1 victory over Singapore in their second Asian Games 2023 Pool A match at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou, China.
Mandeep Singh led the scoring for India with an impressive hat-trick (12′, 30′, 51′), while 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′) also found the back of the net. Singapore managed a solitary consolation goal courtesy of Muhammad Zaki Bin Zulkarnain (53′).
With this commanding victory, India solidified their position at the top of the standings in Pool A. The top two teams from each pool advance to the semifinals.
Notably, India’s men’s hockey team, currently ranked third in the FIH Rankings, with a dominant 16-0 win over Uzbekistan, while Singapore suffered an 11-0 defeat at the hands of Pakistan in their opening match.
The return of captain Harmanpreet Singh to the playing XI added firepower to the Indian team’s offense. India wasted no time launching an offensive onslaught, forcing Singapore, ranked 49th in the world, to defend deep in their territory. India broke the deadlock with a field goal, taking a 1-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The lead was quickly doubled in the second quarter when Sukhjeet passed to Lalit Upadhyay, who converted the chance to make it 2-0 in favor of India.
Before Singapore could recover, India piled on four more goals through Gurjant Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harmanpreet Singh, and Mandeep Singh, who scored his second goal just before halftime. India headed into the break with a commanding 6-0 lead.
India’s next challenge in the tournament will be against defending Asian Games champions Japan, scheduled for Thursday.