It was a double delight for India at the Asia Cup hockey on Saturday as Manpreet Singh’s men beat their arch-rivals 4-0 in the Super-4 encounter to seal a spot in the final. The result meant that Pakistan were knocked out of the cup, with Malaysia and Korea fighting it out to decide who will face India in the summit clash.
Pakistan were actually the better-looking of the two teams in the first two quarters as they constantly peppered India’s goal, but could not find a way through. India were content with defending, knowing that even a draw would get them through to the final.
The deadlock was broken early in the third quarter when, quite against the flow, India scored a wonderful team goal, with Satbir Singh getting his name on the scoresheet. India had more chances to double their lead in that quarter but could not convert.
India left it late to complete their rout. With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, and Pakistan a man down, Harmanpreet Singh capitalised by powerfully driving the ball into goal off a penalty corner. India added a second goal in consecutive minutes as Lalit made the most of some shambolic Pakistan defending to make it 3-0.
Gurjant Singh completed the 4-0 rout late in the fourth quarter to put the nail in Pakistan’s coffin.