Hockey: India crush Asian Games champions Japan

MUSCAT: India continued their spectacular form at the Asian Champions Trophy when they beat Japan 9-0 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher.
India opened their account through Lalit Upadhyay in the fourth minute from a Akashdeep centre-in into the Japanese post, from then on there was no turning back for India as they went on the rampage.
India’s second goal came from a goal-mouth melee after Harmanpreet's flick found the goalkeeper's pads only for a waiting Gujrant who tapped the ball in to make it 2-0 for India.
India then dominated the entire first quarter leaving the panicking Japanese at sixes and sevens whenever the Asian champions made inroads into the box. Japan had no answer to the marauding Indians who kept on pushing for more goals.
India then added a third through Harmanpreet Singh when a penalty stroke was awarded after a goal-bound ball hit a Japanese defender. A minute later India made it 4-0 when Harmanpreet Singh stepped up to receive the ball from a penalty corner which he made no mistake in putting it at the back of the net. At the end of the second quarter India were leading 4-0, with goals from Lalit, Gujrant and a brace from Harmanpreet Singh.
After the half time break Japan tried to up the ante but to no avail as India added one more goal to their tall making it 5-0 through Akashdeep Singh. Kothajit then made it 6-0 from the far corner of the Japanese circle, which was not spotted by the umpire or any Japanese player on the field. Lalit who opened the scoring for India added a second to his tally from a Surender pass to keep the score board ticking aat the end of the third quarter. By the 49th minute India was way ahead leading 8-0 after Harmanpreet dummied only for Manpreet Singh who was a awake to the situation to tap in the ball. Jarmanpreet who started the move passed the ball to Manpreet who gave it to Mandeep stationed right in front of the goal his second strike of the match. India then better their Asian Games record against the same opposition when they beat them 9-0 the last time the two teams met. Japan’s misery was finally put to rest at the full time hooter.