Abhishek Mishra in Rajgir
Egged on by the enthusiastic Rajgir crowd, the last match of Super-4 between India and China began with the loudest cheers. India booked his spot for the summit clash, topping the charts with seven points.
From the very start, Indian attack dismantled the Chinese defence, cruising to a dominant 7-0 victory. Abhishek Nain, who had struggled in the last two matches, showed immense improvement and scored a brace, while Sukhjeet Singh and Shilanand Lakra impressed with their brilliant stick work.
The goals came through Lakra (3’), Dilpreet Singh (6’), Mandeep Singh (17’), Rajkumar Pal (36’), Sukhjeet (38’) and Nain (45’, 49’). This marks India’s best-ever scoreline against China.
Just four minutes into the match, Lakra opened the scoring for India after capitalising on Harmanpreet Singh’s aerial pass to which Jarmanpreet Singh cut into his way. Two minutes later, Lakra’s attempt hit the leg of a Chinese defender, earning India a penalty corner. Harmanpreet flicked strongly but the shot was blocked off the line. However, Dilpreet Singh was alert and smashed the rebound into the net, giving India a 2-0 lead. India dominated the first quarter.
The third goal came in the 17th minute, right after the start of the second quarter. India capitalised on a penalty corner. Mandeep scored.
The third quarter saw the Indian attack totally dismantling the Chinese defence, scoring two more goals. The fourth goal came from a brilliant team-play that ended with Rajkumar’s strike. Just two minutes later, Sukhjeet added to the tally, giving India a 5-0 lead.
In the final quarter, Nain showed his resurgence after going goalless in the last two matches, as he hammered in two goals. His first goal came with the support from Sukhjeet, and a fine assist from Dilpreet. For his second, Abhishek struck a powerfully, capitalising on a deflection from Shilanand. At this point, the Chinese team started to look helpless against the Indian attack and India clinched a clinical win.
Craig Fulton and his boys did an impressive job and India qualified for the final undefeated. They will take on defending champions South Korea in the title showdown on Sunday.