The Indian men's hockey team defeated Singapore 16-1 on Tuesday to win their second straight game at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou 2023. Abhishek, a forward for the Indian men's hockey team who was selected for the starting lineup, played in the game and earned his 50th international cap. Mandeep Singh (12', 30', 51') scored a hat-trick, while India's captain Harmanpreet Singh (24', 39', 40', 42') scored four goals.
Varun Kumar (55', 55') and Abhishek (51', 51') each scored a hat trick, while India also had goals from Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (16'), Gurjant Singh (22'), Vivek Sagar Prasad (23'), Manpreet Singh (37'), and Shamsher Singh (38'). For Singapore, Zaki Zulkarnain scored the lone goal in the 53rd minute.
Harmanpreet Singh, the captain, attacked from left to right to test Singapore's defenders early in the game. He made long passes within the striking circle. The opposition was worried by India's rapid ball movements, but Singapore's strong defence kept India at bay. Sandran Gugan, the custodian for Singapore, made a critical save after Harmanpreet Singh launched a hard shot from a penalty corner. At the end of the first quarter, Mandeep Singh gave India a 1-0 lead after intercepting a pass from Gurjant Singh and driving the ball into the goal.
Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (16') scored India's second goal of the half after receiving a beautiful assist from Sukhjeet Singh to double their advantage. India scored three goals in three minutes, opening the floodgates. First, following a pass from Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh (22') tapped the ball into the goal. A minute later, Vivek Sagar Prasad (23') similarly used a light touch to divert it into the goal, and Harmanpreet Singh (24') added another goal to his goal total by converting a penalty corner to make it 5-0. India led 6-0 at the half after a brilliant variation in the penalty corner enabled Mandeep Singh (30') to score his second goal of the game late in the period.
At the beginning of the third quarter, India kept up the pressure by playing inside Singapore's half. Singapore attempted a risky attack of their own, but Jarmanpreet Singh stopped them in their tracks. In the 37th second, Manpreet Singh took advantage of another opportunity in the Penalty Corner to make it 7-0 for India.
Shamsher Singh (38') hit a strong strike a minute later to increase India's advantage to 8-0. At the end of the third quarter, India led 11-0 thanks to three consecutive Penalty Corners converted by the team's captain, Harmanpreet Singh (39', 40', 42').
In order to stop India from launching any additional attacks in the final frame, Singapore began to press back hard inside their own half. Mandeep Singh (51') made it 12-0 for India after dribbling past the Singaporean defence and pushing the ball into the netting to complete his hat-trick. Abhishek scored twice in two minutes (51', 52'), taking advantage of defensive mistakes made by Singapore players. Zaki Zulkarnain (53') scored a goal for his team as a result of a swift counterattack by Singapore. In order to help India win the game 16-1, Varun Kumar (55', 55') contributed two goals from penalty corners to the scoreboard.
The next match for the Indian Men's Hockey Team will take place on September 28 at 6:15 IST versus Japan.
Schedule of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team:
September 28 – India vs Japan at 615pm IST
September 30 – India Vs Pakistan at 615pm IST
October 2 – India Vs Bangladesh at 1pm IST
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