Hangzhou, China, October 1, 2023: A fast and skilful India stayed on course for a gold medal in men’s hockey at the Hangzhou Asian Games – and booking a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics - after they demolished arch-rivals Pakistan 10-2 in a pool encounter on Saturday night.
It was India’s biggest ever win over Pakistan in the much-storied rivalry between the two Asian giants and kept India's unbeaten record intact. Earlier in the competition, India had defeated defending Asian Games champions Japan 4-2.
“The last game we played was against Japan and we didn’t finish the way we wanted to, so we wanted a full performance and I think we did that. That was good,” said India head coach Craig Fulton.
The South African pinned the victory on the speed and skill of his team. “This team is fast, they are genuinely fast. When they are in full flow, it is nice to watch. It is a nice spectacle. It is one thing to be fast, but also to be skilful at speed is really helpful. It was nice to see some of the goals that were scored, through speed,” Fulton added.
The 10-2 victory secured India a place in the men’s semi-finals which will take place on October 4. India’s final pool game will be against Bangladesh on Monday, October 2.
India captain Harmanpreet Singh led from the front with four goals. Varun Kumar scored twice and there was one goal apiece for Mandeep Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay. Pakistan's goals came from Muhammad Khan and Abdul Rana.
Despite remaining unbeaten and having secured their place in the last four, Fulton refused to look too far ahead.
“It’s only game four and we have one more pool game, so we are firmly on the ground. We need to just manage ourselves and just make sure we do everything that’s in our control. Our objective is to finish top of our pool, and yes, of course qualify for Paris 2024. But it’s one game at a time,” Fulton added.
The winners of the men’s and women’s competition in hockey will earn a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
