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India hockey team players celebrate a goal against Kazakhstan in their Asia Cup match on Monday. (PHOTO: Hockey India)
Kazakhstan conceded seven goals in the first half, let India enter their ‘D’ nearly every minute, and allowed a shot at their goal every second minute on average. Yet, their assistant coach smiled politely at the interval and said his team was playing a ‘good game’.
It was hard not to empathise with them. In the hockey universe where competition gets thin beyond the top 15 of the world, Kazakhstan are ranked 87th, below Hungary and just above Zimbabwe — countries that exist as hockey nations in the rankings list but barely play. Kazakhstan last played in the AHF Cup, a second-tier Asian competition where they were spanked 7-1 by Chinese Taipei, another hockey minnow. They are in Rajgir only because Pakistan pulled out followed by Oman, and got barely a week or two to prepare for the continent’s showpiece event, a World Cup qualifier no less.
For them, to suddenly play India, hockey royalty, would be much like giving the Indian football team a week to prepare and play Messi’s Argentina in alien conditions. A mismatch of epic proportions; perhaps there were more people in the stadium than hockey players in Kazakhstan.
If Kazakhstan dreaded a bigger deficit at half time, it didn’t take long for their fears to come true. In less than two minutes after the restart, India scored three goals and by the time the match ended, they had netted five more to win 15-0. India topped Pool A by winning all three matches and will next face South Korea on Wednesday in the Super 4s stage of the tournament.
Just how easy it was for India could be gauged by goal number 13. India had won a penalty corner — their 11th on the night out of the total 13 — in the 55th minute. Harmanpreet Singh, who had already scored once on the night, asked Sanjay to take his position just a couple of seconds before Abhishek was about to inject the ball. Sanjay, who hadn’t taken a single drag-flick in the entire tournament, stepped up nonchalantly and smashed the ball past the Kazakh goalkeeper. It was that easy.
Not for all, though. On a night when nearly every Indian was scoring for fun, Dilpreet Singh was enduring another tough outing. He’d come close on a couple of occasions but lacked the finish. A minute after Sanjay’s goal, however, he too got on the scoresheet — his first shot, a feeble attempt, was saved by the goalkeeper but he latched on to the rebound.
Dilpreet was India’s eighth different scorer. Abhishek scored four, Sukhjeet Singh and Jugraj Singh three each, while Harmanpreet, Amit Rohidas, Rajinder Singh, Sanjay and Dilpreet had one each.
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Abhishek celebrates after scoring goal against Kazakhstan. (PHOTO: Hockey India)
Except for giving confidence to players like Dilpreet and Sanjay, the result won’t mean much for India. Sukhjeet acknowledged after the match that tougher tests await them.
China advance at Japan’s expense
While India topping the pool was largely expected, it is China who have emerged as the tournament’s surprise package.
After giving India a scare, the world number 22 side stunned Japan by holding them to a 2-2 draw. The result was enough for them to finish second in the group and qualify for the Super 4s — the tournament’s second stage that will decide the eventual champions. Japan, the 2018 Asian Games champions, will now play in the 5th to 8th place classification games.
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