rajgir: A ruthless India scored every four minutes on average to demolish Kazakhstan 15-0 in an utterly lopsided match and march into the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup hockey tournament with an all-win record here on Monday.
Abhishek (5th, 8th, 20th, 59th minutes) found the target four times, while Sukhjeet Singh (15th, 32nd, 38th) and Jugraj Singh (24th, 31st, 47th) struck fine hat-tricks to help India top Pool A.
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh (26th), Amit Rohidas (29th), Rajinder Singh (32nd), Sanjay (54th) and Dilpreet Singh (55th) were the other scorers as India registered their third consecutive win in the tournament after beating China and Japan.
India will be joined by China in the Super 4s from their group, while Malaysia and Korea are the teams to have progressed to the next stage from Pool B.
All the four teams will play each other in the next stage of the tournament, and the top two sides will qualify for Sunday’s final.
India will play South Korea in their first Super 4 match on Wednesday.
In the game, Sukhjeet intercepted the ball inside Kazakhstan half and passed it on to Abhishek, who opened India’s account with a reverse shot from the top of the circle.
Abhishek scored his second goal three minutes later from a similar position but this time with his forehand.
India secured their first penalty corner just before the end of opening quarter but Harmanpreet’s effort was saved by Kazakh custodian Yerzhan Yelubayev. But, from the resultant free hit, Sukheet tapped in from a feed by Abhishek.
The Kazakhs also secured a penalty corner but failed to get anything out of it. India got their second penalty corner in the 18th minute but Harmanpreet was unlucky as his flick hit the post.
Abhishek got his hat-trick when he pushed home the ball from a tight angle after receiving a pass from Harmanpreet.
Kazakhstan earned their second penalty corner but the Indians defended well.
Another penalty corner came India’s way in the 23rd minute and Jugraj made mistake to make it 5-0.
Minutes later, India secured another penalty corner and this time, Harmanpreet found the net. After Dilpreet missed a sitter from a one-on-one situation, Rohidas got his name in the scoresheet by converting another set piece a minute from half time. Right after the change of ends, India secured a penalty stroke and Jugraj scored.
It was raining goals as Rajinder and Sukhjeet found the net. The Indian team looked sharp, and it was one-way traffic as play was restricted to the Kazakh half.
India’s chief coach Craig Fulton was satisfied with his team’s performance, especially the forwardline. “It was a difficult game with all respect to Kazakhstan, considering that we knew we were already in the Super 4s and we were cautious not to get any injuries, we don’t do anything silly. We are full of confidence. It was good to spend a lot of time in final third and that’s what we were hoping for and we did. 15 goals against any team isn’t easy,” he said. “Going into the Super 4s you want your strikers connecting and scoring goals.”
Earlier, Japan lost out on a Super 4 berth to China on goal difference after a 2-2 draw.