Rohan Chowdhury in Hangzhou
After a thumping 16-0 win versus Uzbekistan in the campaign opener, the Indian men’s hockey team administered a similar sort of beating to Singapore in their second game at the Gongshu Sports Centre Park Stadium, China. This time, the scoreline was 16-1, with Singapore’s defence completely overwhelmed in the final three quarters.
Right from the start of the match, Craig Fulton’s boys made their intentions clear. Some fierce attacks down the right wing through Mandeep Singh, who combined with Harmanpreet Singh, the skipper, penetrated the Singapore circle quite a few times. The Singapore defence managed to keep the Indian forwards at bay till the 12th minute, when Mandeep opened the scoring. The first quarter finished with the score of 1-0, the calm before the goal storm.
Lalit Kumar Upadhyay started the scoring in the second quarter, followed by Gurjant Singh, Vivek Prasad, and Harmanpreet. The second quarter ended with Mandeep’s second goal and India’s sixth, right before the half-time hooter.
The third quarter saw another five goals for India, with Harmanpreet completing his hat-trick and then adding another, all from penalty corners. The other two goals in the quarter were scored by Mandeep, who completed his hat-trick, and Shamsher Singh.
Mandeep carried on where he had left off in the 51st minute, and Abhishek added to the goals tally with back-to-back efforts that made it 14-0 by the 52nd minute.
Singapore’s consolation goal came a minute later through a field goal by Muhammad ZBZ, but the celebrations did not last long as Varun Kumar scored his first and India’s 15th, before adding another in the 56th minute.
“It’s always difficult to win and we wanted to make something out of the game, so we had to maintain the tempo,” said Craig Fulton, the head coach, speaking exclusively to RevSportz after the match. “No disrespect to Singapore. They tried their best, but we had to make the most of the game. So, I’m happy with the performance. No injuries in the squad, and that’s what is good about these two games. Everyone is fit and the bench is also tested.”
PR Sreejesh, India’s stalwart goalkeeper, told RevSportz that these matches would act as preparation for the important clashes against Japan and Pakistan. “Yes, we got big wins in back-to-back matches, but we can’t be satisfied and be relaxed,” he said. “More important matches are coming ahead of us and experience gained in these two matches will help us perform in the upcoming matches.”
For Harmanpreet, the tournament carries a significance that goes beyond pursuit of gold. “We have to move forward match by match, but the main focus is to win the gold here to secure a direct entry to Paris 2024,” he told RevSportz.
India are next in action against Japan on Thursday, September 28.
Goals for India
Harmanpreet Singh: 4
Mandeep Singh: 3
Abhishek: 2
Varun Kumar: 2
Lalit Upadhyay: 1
Gurjant Singh: 1
Manpreet Singh: 1
Shamsher Singh: 1
Vivek Sagar Prasad: 1