Muscat (Oman), 30 November (IANS). The Indian junior men’s hockey team continued its dominance in the Men’s Junior Asia Cup with a 16-0 thrashing of Chinese Taipei in a Pool A match on Saturday.
Dilraj Singh (17′, 40′, 45′, 57′) performed brilliantly in the match scoring four brilliant goals, while goalkeepers Bikramjeet Singh and Prince Deep Singh dominated the Indian defense and ensured the victory.
Coming off a 3-2 win against a tough opponent like Japan in their previous Pool A match, India started with an early attack which yielded a positive result. In the seventh minute of the match, the team’s forward achieved a PC, which was hit brilliantly by Yogambar Rawat. The early 1-0 lead provided India the right momentum for a high-scoring game.
Although no further goals were scored in the first quarter, India Colts showed aggression in the second quarter and scored four goals. Prolific forward Dilraj Singh, who played a key role in India’s performance in the recent Sultan of Johor Cup, was at the heart of the team’s attack against Chinese Taipei. He scored the team’s second goal in the 17th minute. Saurabh Anand Kushwaha (20′, 28′) scored two goals in this quarter, while Roshan Kujur (23′) also added to the team’s 5-0 lead at half-time.
India continued to destroy Chinese Taipei’s defense by scoring two consecutive goals in the third quarter. He played fast, relying on short passes to create space in the circle. They scored a minute into the third quarter via Talem Priobarta’s PC. Roshan Kujur scored his second goal in the 32nd minute to increase India’s lead to 7-0.
Arshdeep Singh made a comeback in the match by scoring a PC goal in the 37th minute, after which Sharda Nand Tiwari scored a penalty stroke in the 39th minute. With this India’s lead increased to 9-0. In this quarter, Dilraj Singh (40′, 45′), Roshan Kujur (42′) scored four more goals, both completed a hat-trick of goals. Arshdeep also added his name to the scoresheet in the 44th minute, giving India a 13-0 lead entering the last quarter of the match.
The remaining 15 minutes were just a formality, with the strikers scoring three more goals to take India’s score to 16-0. Stylish forward Arijit Singh Hundal got his name on the scoresheet with a field goal in the 54th minute, while Dilraj scored his fourth individual goal in the 57th minute, while Saurabh Anand also completed his hat-trick with a field goal in the 58th minute. This high-scoring win ensured that India remained on top of the points table in Pool A with nine points.
India will face Korea in its next match on December 1.
–IANS
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