Madurai: Manmeet Singh celebrated his birthday with a fine brace while Sharda Nand Tiwari converted two penalty corners as India defeated Switzerland 5-0 to continue their unbeaten run and qualify for the quarterfinals in the FIH Men’s World Cup here on Tuesday.
India finished on top of Pool B with nine points from three games.
Manmeet (2nd, 11th minutes), Sharda Nand Tiwari (13th, 54th) and Arshdeep Singh (28th) found the net for India.
Switzerland started on a bright note, earning back-to-back penalty corners in the first minute but India defended stoutly. The Indians responded quickly and took the lead in the second minute as birthday boy Manmeet scored from close range after being fed by Dilraj Singh. Thereafter, there was no looking back for India as they dominated the proceedings
Meanwhile in the first match here, Spain thrashed Namibia 13-0 to directly qualify for the quarterfinals by topping Pool D with an all-win record from three matches.
Bruno Avila (5th, 23rd, 47th, 58th minutes) scored four goals, including a hat-trick, while Andres Medina (7th, 27th), Albert Serrahima (15th), Nicolas Mustaros (37th), Ton Moran (41st), Josep Martin (44th, 59th), Alex Bozal (54th) and Pere Amat (55th) were the other goal getters for Spain.
In Chennai, last edition’s silver medallists France continued their unbeaten run, eking out a narrow 3-2 win over a fighting Bangladesh to directly qualify for the quarterfinals with an all-win record.
France, who had defeated Korea 11-1 and Australia 8-3, topped Pool F with maximum nine points from three matches. Former champions and hockey powerhouse Australia’s 28-year-old wait for their second Junior World Cup title continued as they failed to qualify for the quarterfinals despite beating South Korea 3-1 in their final Pool F match.
Already out of the reckoning, Chile registered a consolation win, beating Oman 2-0 in a Pool B match. Felipe Duisberg (10th) and Tomas Taborga (47th) converted two penalty corners for Chile in the inconsequential match.
Casper van der Veen scored a hat-trick as Netherlands thrashed Austria 11-0 qualify for the quarterfinals from Pool E with an unbeaten record. England defeated Malaysia 3-1 to finish second.