In a convincing 15-1 victory over Bangladesh on Tuesday, Maninder Singh scored four goals, including a hat-trick, while Mohmmed Raheel added three as the Indian side got off to a strong start in the Men’s Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier.
Maninder Singh scored for India in the 10th, 18th, 28th, and 30th minutes of the game, and Mohammed Raheel scored in the second, fifteenth, and twenty-fourth. Mandeep Mor (8′), Sukhvinder (13′, 22′), Gurjot Singh (13′, 23′), Pawan Rajbhar (19′, 26′), Dipsan Tirkey (9′) and others also made accurate shots. Sawon Sarowar (2′) scored the lone goal for Bangladesh.
India got the game underway quickly, executing a risky move that gave Pawan Rajbhar the opportunity to make a cutting run. However, Bangladesh was able to stop India’s counterattack and score the game’s opening goal through Sawon Sarowar (2′).
Mohammed Raheel (2′) immediately tied the game for India with a strong stroke of his own. Both India and Bangladesh began to play conservatively after the opening barrage of attacks in an effort to prevent early goals.
However, Indian captain Mandeep Mor (8′) broke the tie with an incredible goal to give his team the lead. India increased their lead to 4-1 in the following few minutes with goals from Dipsan Tirkey (9′) and Maninder Singh (10′).
Gurjot Singh (13′) capitalised on an Indian counterattack after custodian Suraj Karkera made an incredible save to set up the opportunity. With goals from Sukhvinder (13′) and Mohammed Raheel (15′), India led 7-1 at the break.
Maninder Singh’s goal (18′) extended India’s scoring spree as they launched another attack from the right flank to start the second half.
With India’s tenth goal less than a minute later, Pawan Rajbhar (19′) added his name to the scoresheet. By pressing further into Bangladesh’s half while maintaining possession, Sukhvinder (22′) increased India’s goal total to ten with a shot from just past halfway.
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A minute later, Gurjot Singh (23′), who had already scored once, added to India’s advantage. Two minutes later, Mohammed Raheel completed his hat-trick with a reverse hit as India continued to put the opposition’s defence under constant pressure.
In the 26th minute, Pawan Rajbhar scored his second goal of the game by once again finding the back of the net. Maninder Singh (28′, 30′) finished off his hat trick with two minutes remaining in the game and added a fourth goal right before the final horn to give India a commanding 15-1 victory.
On Wednesday, India will play two matches against Oman and Pakistan.
