Jalandhar, Oct 28 Their title defence off to a rousing start, five-time champions India will look to continue their winning juggernaut when they take on an unfamiliar and youthful China in their second round-robin match at the Asian Champions Trophy here on Thursday.
Fresh from winning back-to-back gold medals at the Asian Games, which directly secured their berth at the Los Angeles Olympics, the Indians looked unstoppable against a hapless Bangladesh, who replaced Pakistan in the competition after the latter refused to travel to India, citing security reasons.
It was largely one-way traffic, with play mostly confined to Bangladesh’s half.
Bangladesh might not be a force to reckon with against India, but the most heartening aspect was that the Harmanpreet Singh-led side scored from both field goals and penalty corners.
The Indians scored as many as eight field goals and five goals from set pieces against Bangladesh on Tuesday.
The icing on the cake was veteran striker Mandeep Singh’s return to form, as he scored a fine hat-trick to make a statement ahead of the national selectors’ assessment, after he was reportedly identified as one of four senior players, alongside Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas and Nilakanta Sharma, to be phased out after the ACT.
While Nilakanta announced on Tuesday that this would be his last international tournament, Mandeep and Jarmanpreet want to continue playing.
Besides Mandeep, skipper Harmanpreet, Dilpreet Singh and vice-captain Hardik Singh scored a brace each, while Shilanand Lakra, Nilakanta and Jugraj Singh also found the net once against Bangladesh.
Expectedly, India’s chief coach Craig Fulton was happy with Mandeep’s effort.
“He (Mandeep) was good, he did full of running and was nice and sharp, which was important,” he said.
However, for Fulton, the team’s performance in the third quarter after the change of ends remains a worry.
“We wanted a fast start, which we got in the first quarter. We wanted to play some fast-flowing hockey, which we did. But the third quarter wasn’t that good, and that remains a problem. But I am glad we finished strongly,” he pointed out.
In the absence of Manpreet Singh, who has been ruled out with a calf muscle injury, Hardik, Vivek Sagar Prasad and Nilakanta controlled the midfield, linking up effectively with the forward line.
Mandeep looked ominous up front and was ably assisted by Abhishek, Dilpreet, Shilanand and Sukhjeet Singh.
The backline will continue to remain under the watchful eyes of Harmanpreet, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj and Sanjay, with Suraj Karkera and Krishan Bahadur Pathak guarding the goal.
The nimble-footed Chinese, on the other hand, gave Asian Games silver medallists Malaysia a run for their money before losing 4-5 in a keenly contested match.
China have fielded a completely new-look squad for this tournament, and the youngsters showcased their potential against Malaysia.
“This Chinese team is unknown to us, as they have come here with a completely new group, not the one that played at the Asian Games. We don’t know much about them and haven’t seen them play. We will have to analyse video footage of their match to get a fair idea about them,” Fulton said.
Meanwhile, in other matches on Thursday, Malaysia will take on South Korea, while Bangladesh will be up against Japan.
India Squad:
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Goalkeepers: Suraj Karkera, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
Defenders: Sanjay, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amandeep Lakra
Midfielders: Rajinder Singh, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards: Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh
Match timings:
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Malaysia vs South Korea (2.30pm)
Japan vs Bangladesh (4.45pm)
India vs China (7pm).
(PTI News)
