India hammer Pakistan 6-1 in HWL classification clash

India bounced back from the devastating reverse against Malaysia in the quarters to heap a second successive defeat over Pakistan in the Hero Hockey World League on Saturday. The margin, 6-1, was only just short of the 7-1 achieved six days ago. Overall, it was India's fourth consecutive win over Pakistan.

India's scorers were Ramandeep Singh (8', 28'), Talwinder Singh (25'), Mandeep Singh (27', 59') and Harmanpreet Singh (36') while Ajaz Ahmad for Pakistan's lone goal in 41st minute. India's 23 goals in this tournament include 13 against Pakistan, but that is still not a consolation for the Indians, who failed to make the semis.

Coach Roelant Oltmans, summed the happenings of the last few days, which spanned the loss to Malaysia and the second win over Pakistan, saying, "I am happy but not satisfied." He admitted, "The team expectedly was crestfallen after the loss to Malaysia but did well to come back. Oltmans, admitted, "You always need some time to cope with disappointment and that's the time we gave them. The next day we started to bring our focus to this match. You have to make sure that you finish it (disappointment) and start up in a different way. Yesterday we had a small training session and you could see that the smiles were back on the faces and boys were really eager to have a good performance."

Oltmans also said "In this tournament, we won't be happy anymore. I think we should have finished higher than we will. We clearly mentioned as a team after that match (vs Malaysia) that our aim is to finish fifth position and make sure we have two good matches. The first part is done and I am satisfied. The fact that we played the way we played today, especially in the first half, it's a compliment to the team."