India frittered away chances galore yet managed to beat Bangladesh 10-0 in their second match of the Asia Cup hockey tournament at the Bukit Jalil stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
The margin of victory was the biggest thus far in the tournament and ensured India a berth in the semi-finals. Tomorrow's match against Pakistan will decided which of the two Asian giants takes the top spot in Pool B. After today's victory India and Pakistan are level on points and goal difference. Both have six points from two matches and a goal difference of plus-14.
Dilip Tirkey scored two of those goals from the eight penalty-corner India forced, while Gagan Ajit Singh (2), Vikram Pillay, Dhanraj Pillay, Sandeep Michael, Prabhjot Singh and Baljit Singh Dhillon accounted for the rest.
In an earlier match, defending champions South Korea also posted a resounding victory, beating Hong Kong 7-1.
South Korea now have four points from two outings and have a match against Pool A leaders Japan (6 points) in hand. A draw should suffice for the Koreans to take the second spot in the pool.
Not much should be read into India's big win over Bangladesh. They should have won by a bigger margin, but their inability to finish and force more penalty-corners restricted them. All the forwards, including Prabhjot Singh, Gagan Ajit, Deepak Thakur and Dhanraj Pillay, were guilty of overdoing the dribble, as a result of which they fumbled inside the circle when ideally placed.
Dilip Tirkey opened the scoring in the seventh minute, his rasping drive from India's first penalty-corner giving no chance to Bangladesh goalkeeper Mohammad Rasik Khan.
A quick passing bout between Dhanraj Pillay and Thakur saw the latter make it 2-0 in the 11th minute.
After squandering at least three gilt-edged chances, midfielder Vikram Pillay increased the scoreline in the 25th minute after Prabhjot's shot was saved by the keeper.
Dhanraj made the scorline 4-0 in the 32th minute, scoring from a melee after Thakur had done the spadework
A minute from the breather, Sandeep Michael showed good opportunism, tapping home a rebound off the Bangladesh 'keeper's pads after he had saved Dilip Tirkey's shot following India's fifth penalty-corner.
Immediately on resumption, Gagan Ajit scored his first goal of the match with a stiff shot from the top of the circle - 6-0.
Prabhjot got his name on the scoresheet in the 47th minute, finishing on a one-two between Gagan Ajit and Dhanraj, before Gagan scored his second goal of the match three minutes later with a reverse hit after Didar Singh mishit the ball.
Baljit Singh Dhillon scored with a high drag flick from India's seventh penalty-corner in the 53rd minute before Tirkey got his second goal with a stiff hit from the eighth penalty-corner two minutes later.
South Korea strike in second half
South Korea forged ahead in the second minute through Lee Gye Sung but were kept in check by a crowded Hong Kong defence for a major part of the first session, during which Hong Kong restored parity in the 17th minute through Ali Akbar, who scored following a penalty-corner. But, thereafter, it was one-way traffic for the speedy Koreans. They regained the lead in the 19th minute through Lim Jong Chun and added another goal in the 27th minute through You Hyo Sik.
On resumption in the second session, Seo Jong Ho (54th minute), Kim Jong Chul (56th and 58th) and Jang Jong Hyun (67th) scored to complete the rout.
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