Asian Games 2023: The Indian hockey team on Saturday recorded its biggest-ever win against the Pakistan team as it crushed the neighbors by 10-2 in a one-sided Pool-A match. Team India skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored 4 goals and led the Indian hockey team to the semifinals of the Asian Games 2023.
Harmanpreet found the back of the net in the 11th, 17th, 33rd, and 34th minutes, while Varun Kumar managed to score two goals in the 41st and 54th minutes. Mandeep Singh, Sumit, Samsher Singh, and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay also contributed to the goal tally, scoring in the 8th, 30th, 46th, and 49th minutes, respectively.
Muhammad Khan (38th) and Abdul Rana (45th) were the only scorers from Pakistan which somehow saved the team from drawing a blank against the mighty Indians. This is Pakistan's biggest defeat against India in 180 matches played by both nations.
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India started the onslaught early as Abhishek executed an impressive maneuver on the left flank, entering the opposing team's striking circle. His pass resulted in a deflection into the goal by Mandeep Singh in the eighth minute.
Meanwhile, Pakistan executed some promising plays and managed to earn their initial penalty corner opportunity in the 11th minute. However, India's goalkeeper, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, proved equal to the challenge and successfully defended against it.
Soon, India secured the second goal as skipper Harmanpreet Singh made no mistake in the penalty stroke. The Indian skipper didn't stop there as the situation escalated dramatically for Pakistan and India secured three consecutive penalty corners, culminating in Harmanpreet's four goal in the match.
Pakistan managed to secure some success attacking mostly from the left side, but their attempts to breach the defense of the experienced Indian goalkeeper, PR Sreejesh, proved unsuccessful.
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