Asiad: India thrash Bangladesh 9-0 in men’s hockey

Guangzhou : Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh slammed in four goals as India crushed Bangladesh 9-0 to win their second consecutive match in Group B men’s league of the Asian Games hockey competition at the Aoti field here on Wednesday.

Two-time champions India, who opened with a thumping 7-0 victory over Hong Kong, led 3-0 till the half time and stepped up the ante in the second half to embarrass the neighbours.

Tushar Khandekar opened the scoring in the second minute and then converted his brace in the 39th minute. Khandekar along with skipper Rajpal, Arjun Halappa and Shivendra Singh, kept the pressure on the Bangladeshi defence.

Sandeep scored the second goal in the 13th minute, and then converted penalty corners in the 47th, 63rd and 66th minutes for India’s seventh and eighth goals before Dharamvir Singh completed the tally a minute from the end.

Shivendra Singh scored the third goal which was a field try, in the 22nd minute, Rajpal Singh (37th, field goal) that put India 4-0 up two minutes into the second half and Khandekar who scored his second goal with a field effort in the 39th minute.

India, who last won the gold medal in the 1998 Asian Games, will next face arch-rivals Pakistan .